ua 


ot  tofstorp 


Richard  I. 


BY    JACOB    ABBOTT 


*uH  UMUUVIN8S 


NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 

HARPER    &    BROTHERS    PUBLISHERS 

1902 


Koterod,  according  to  Act  of  Con  grew,  In  the  year  one  thousan 

hundred  and  fifty-seven,  by 

HARPKR    &    BROTHBRS, 

in  the  Clerk's  office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Southern  District  of 
New  York. 


Copyright,  1885,  by  BBNJAMI*  VACOHAM  ABBOTT,  AUSTIN 
LTMAK  ABBOTT,  and  Kuwii:o  ABBOTT. 


PREFACE. 


THE  author  of  this  series  has  made  it  his  spe- 
cial object  to  confine  himself  very  strictly,  even 
in  the  most  minute  details  which  he  records,  to 
historic  truth.  The  narratives  are  not  tales 
founded  upon  history,  but  history  itself,  without 
any  embellishment,  or  any  deviations  from  the 
strict  truth  so  far  as  it  can  now  be  discovered 
by  an  attentive  examination  of  the  annals  writ- 
ten at  the  time  when  the  events  themselves  oc- 
curred. In  writing  the  narratives,  the  author 
has  endeavored  to  avail  himself  of  the  best 
sources  of  information  which  this  country  af- 
fords; and  though,  of  course,  there  must  b« 
in  these  volumes,  as  in  all  historical  accounts, 
more  or  less  of  imperfection  and  error,  there  is 
no  intentional  embellishment.  Nothing  is  stat- 
ed, not  even  the  most  minute  and  apparently 


viii  PREFACE. 

imaginary  details,  without  what  was  deemed 
good  historical  authority.  The  readers,  there- 
fore, may  rely  upon  the  record  as  the  truth,  and 
nothing  but  the  truth,  so  far  as  an  honest  pur- 
pose and  a  careful  examination  have  been  ef- 
fectual in  ascertaining  it. 


CONTENTS. 

Chapter  P»ge 

i.  KING  RICHARD'S  MOTHER 13- 

ii.  RICHARD'S  EARLY  LIFE 35 

III.  FAIR    ROSAMOND 52 

IV.  ACCESSION    OF    RICHARD    TO    THE    THRONE 66 

V.    THE    CORONATION 79 

VI.    PREPARATIONS    FOR  THE    CRUSADE 89 

VII.    THE    EMBARKATION - 101 

VIII.    KING    RICHARD    AT    MESSINA 117 

IX.    BERENGARIA 143 

X.    THE    CAMPAIGN    IN    CYPRUS 160 

XI.    VOYAGE    TO   ACRE 185 

XII.    THE    ARRIVAL    AT   ACRE 196 

XIII.  DIFFICULTIES 204 

XIV.  THE    FALL   OF   ACRE 211 

XV.    PROGRESS    OF    THE    CRUSADE 229 

XVI.    REVERSES 249 

XVII.    THE    OLD    MAN    OF   THE    MOUNTAINS 267 

"VIII.    THE    BATTLE    OF    JAFFA 283 

XIX.    THE  TRUCE 297 

XX.  THE  DEPARTURE  FROM  PALESTINE 305 

XXI.  RICHARD  MADE  CAPTIVE 312 

XXII.  THE  RETURN  TO  ENGLAND  .  .                .  324 


ENGRAVINGS. 


MAP 14 

PREACHING  THE  CRUSADES 19 

PORTRAIT  OF  KING  HENRY  II 49 

VIEW  OF  WOODSTOCK 55 

FINAL  BURIAL  OF  ROSAMOND 64 

PORTRAIT  OF  RICHARD  1 90 

RICHARD  PURSUING  HIS  JOURNEY 113 

THE  BATTERING-RAM 137 

THE  BALL1STA 139 

THE  CATAPULTA 140 

THE  LETTER 152 

ROUTE  OF  RICHARD'S  FLEET 164 

KING  RICHARD'S  SEAL 167 

RAMPARTS  OF  ACRE 189 

THE  ASSAULT 207 

THROWING  SHELLS 231 

SALADIN'S  PRESENT 294 

CASTLE  AMD  TOWN  OF  TIERNSTEIGN  .  .  .321 


KING    RICHARD   I, 


CHAPTER  I. 
KING   RICHARD'S   MOTHER. 

Richard  the  Crusader.  A  quarrelsome  king. 

KING  RICHARD  THE  FIRST,  the  Cru- 
sader, was  a  boisterous,  reckless,  and  des- 
perate man,  and  he  made  a  great  deal  of  noise 
in  the  world  in  his  day.  He  began  his  career 
very  early  in  life  by  quarreling  with  his  father. 
Indeed,  his  father,  his  mother,  and  all  his  broth- 
ers and  sisters  were  engaged,  as  long  as  the  fa- 
ther lived,  in  perpetual  wars  against  each  other, 
which  were  waged  with  the  most  desperate 
fierceness  on  all  sides.  The  subject  of  these 
quarrels  was  the  different  possessions  which  the 
various  branches  of  the  family  held  or  claimed 
in  France  and  in  England,  each  endeavoring  to 
dispossess  the  others.  In  order  to  understand 
the  nature  of  these  difficulties,  and  also  to  com- 
prehend fully  what  sort  of  a  woman  Richard's 
mother  was,  we  must  first  pay  a  little  attention 


14 


KING   RICHARD   I. 


[1137. 


Richard's  kingdom. 


Union  of  England  and  Normandy. 


to  the  map  of  the  countries  over  which  these 
royal  personages  held  sway. 

We  have  already  seen,  in  another  volume  of 
this  series,*  how  the  two  countries  of  Normandy 
on  the  Continent,  and  of  England,  became  united 
under  one  government.  England,  however,  did 


History  of  William  the  Conqueror. 


1137.]  KING  RICHARD'S  MOTHER.       15 

Bngland  was  a  possession  of  Normandy.  Eleanora  of  Aquitaine. 

not  conquer  and  hold  Normandy ;  it  was  Nor- 
mandy that  conquered  and  held  England.  The 
relative  situation  of  these  two  countries  is  shown 
on  the  map.  Normandy,  it  will  be  seen,  was 
situated  in  the  northern  part  of  France,  being 
separated  from  England  by  the  English  Chan- 
nel. Besides  Normandy,  the  sovereigns  of  the 
country  held  various  other  possessions  in  France, 
and  this  French  portion  of  the  compound  realm 
over  which  they  reigned  they  considered  as  far 
the  most  important  portion.  England  was  but 
a  sort  of  appendage  to  their  empire. 

You  will  see  by  the  map  the  situation  of  the 
River  Loire.  It  rises  in  the  centre  of  France, 
and  flows  to  the  westward,  through  a  country 
which  was,  even  in  those  days,  very  fertile  and 
beautiful.  South  of  the  Loire  was  a  sort  of 
kingdom,  then  under  the  dominion  of  a  young 
and  beautiful  princess  named  Eleanora.  The 
name  of  her  kingdom  was  Aquitaine.  This  lady 
afterward  became  the  mother  of  Richard.  She 
was  very  celebrated  in  her  day,  and  has  since 
been  greatly  renowned  in  history  under  the 
name  of  Eleanora  of  Aquitaine. 

Eleanora  received  her  realm  from  her  grand- 
father. Her  father  had  gone  on  a  crusade  with 
his  brother,  Eleanora's  uncle,  Raymond,  and  had 


16  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1137. 

The  contemporaries  of  Eleanora.  Royal  match-making. 

been  killed  in  the  East.  Raymond  had  made 
himself  master  of  Antioch.  We  shall  present- 
ly hear  of  this  Raymond  again.  The  grandfa- 
ther abdicated  in  Eleanora's  favor  when  she  was 
about  fourteen  years  of  age.  There  were  two 
other  powerful  sovereigns  in  France  at  this  time, 
Louis,  King  of  France,  who  reigned  in  Paris, 
and  Henry,  Duke  of  Normandy  and  King  of 
England.  King  Louis  of  France  had  a  son,  the 
Prince  Louis,  who  was  heir  to  the  crown.  El- 
eanora's  grandfather  formed  the  scheme  of  mar- 
rying her  to  this  Prince  Louis,  and  thus  to 
unite  his  kingdom  to  hers.  He  himself  was 
tired  of  ruling,  and  wished  to  resign  his  power, 
with  a  view  of  spending  the  rest  of  his  days  in 
penitence  and  prayer.  He  had  been  a  very 
wicked  man  in  his  day,  and  now,  as  he  was 
growing  old,  he  was  harassed  by  remorse  for  his 
sins,  and  wished,  if  possible,  to  make  some  atone- 
ment for  them  by  his  penances  before  he  died. 
So  he  called  all  his  barons  together,  and  laid 
his  plans  before  them.  They  consented  to  them 
on  two  conditions.  One  was,  that  Eleanora 
should  first  see  Louis,  and  say  whether  she  was 
willing  to  have  him  for  her  husband.  If  not, 
she  was  not  to  be  compelled  to  marry  him. 
The  other  condition  was,  that  their  country, 


1137.]  KING   RICHARD'S  MOTHER.      17 

The  conditions  of  the  marriage.          Apparent  prosperity  of  Eleanora. 

Aquitaine,  was  not  to  be  combined  with  the  do- 
minions of  the  King  of  France  after  the  mar- 
riage, but  was  to  continue  a  separate  and  inde- 
pendent realm,  to  be  governed  by  Louis  and 
Eleanora,  not  as  King  and  Queen  of  France,  but 
as  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Aquitaine.  Both  these 
•conditions  were  complied  with.  The  interview 
was  arranged  between  Louis  and  Eleanora,  and 
Eleanora  concluded  that  she  should  like  the  king 
for  a  husband  very  much.  At  least  she  said 
.so,  and  the  marriage  was  concluded. 

Indeed,  the  match  thus  arranged  for  Eleano- 
ra was,  in  all  worldly  respects,  the  most  eligible 
one  that  could  be  made.  Her  husband  was  the 
lieir-apparent  to  the  throne  of  France.  His 
•capital  was  Paris,  which  was  then,  as  now,  the 
great  centre  in  Europe  of  all  splendor  and  gay- 
«ty.  The  father  of  Louis  was  old,  and  not 
likely  to  live  long;  indeed,  he  died  very  soon 
after  the  marriage,  and  thus  Eleanora,  when 
scarcely  fifteen,  became  Queen  of  France  as  well 
as  Duchess  of  Aquitaine,  and  was  thus  raised  to 
the  highest  pinnacle  of  worldly  grandeur. 

She  was  young  and  beautiful,  and  very  gay 

In  her  disposition,  and  she  entered  at  once  upon 

a  life  of  pleasure.     She  had  been  well  educated. 

She  could  sing  the  songs  of  the  Troubadours, 

7—2 


18  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1137. 

Eleanora's  accomplishments.  The  Crusades. 

which  was  the  fashionable  music  of  those  days, 
in  a  most  charming  manner.  Indeed,  she  com- 
posed music  herself,  and  wrote  lines  to  accom- 
ipany  it.  She  was  quite  celebrated  for  her  learn- 
ing, on  account  of  her  being  able  both  to  read 
and  write :  these  were  rare  accomplishments  for 
ladies  in  those  days. 

She  spent  a  considerable  portion  of  her  time 
in  Paris,  at  the  court  of  her  husband,  but  then 
she  often  returned  to  Aquitaine,  where  she  held 
a  sort  of  court  of  her  own  in  Bordeaux,  which 
was  her  capital.  She  led  this  sort  of  life  for 
some  time,  until  at  length  she  was  induced  to 
form  a  design  of  going  to  the  East  on  a  crusade. 
The  Crusades  were  military  expeditions  which 
went  from  the  western  countries  of  Europe  to 
conquer  Palestine  from  the  Turks,  in  order  to 
recover  possession  of  Jerusalem  and  of  the  sep- 
ulchre where  the  body  of  Christ  was  laid. 

It  had  been  for  some  time  the  practice  for  the 
princes  and  knights,  and  other  potentates  of 
France  and  England,  to  go  on  these  expedi- 
tions, on  account  of  the  fame  and  glory  which 
those  who  distinguished  themselves  acquired. 
The  people  were  excited,  moreover,  to  join  the 
Crusades  by  the  preachings  of  monks  and  her- 
mits, who  harangued  them  in  public  places  and 


1137.]  KING  RICHARD'S  MOTHER.       19 


A  monk  preaching  the  Crusades. 


urged  them  to  go.  At  these  assemblages  the 
monks  held  up  symbols  of  the  crucifixion,  to 
inspire  their  zeal,  and  promised  them  the  special 
favor  of  heaven  if  they  would  go.  They  said 


PREACHING  THE  CBU8ADE8. 


,  that  whoever  devoted  himself  to  this  great  cause 
should  surely  be  pardoned  for  all  the  sins  and 
crimes  that  he  had  committed,  whatever  they 
might  be ;  and  whenever  they  heard  of  the  com- 
imission  of  any  great  crimes  by  potentates  or 
rulers,  they  would  seize  upon  the  occasion  to 
urge  the  guilty  persons  to  go  and  fight  for  the 
cross  in  Palestine,  as  a  means  of  wiping  away 
their  guilt. 

One  of  these  preachers  charged  such  a  crime 


20  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1137. 

The  reasons  why  Louis  and  Eleanora  undertook  a  crusade. 


upon  Louis,  the  husband  of  Eleanora.  It  seems 
that,  in  a  quarrel  which  he  had  with  one  of  his 
neighbors,  he  had  sent  an  armed  force  to  invade 
his  enemy's  dominions,  and  in  storming  a  town 
a  cathedral  had  been  set  on  fire  and  burned,  and 
fifteen  hundred  persons,  who  had  taken  refuge 
in  it  as  a  sanctuary,  had  perished  in  the  flames. 
Now  it  was  a  very  great  crime,  according  to  the 
ideas  of  those  times,  to  violate  a  sanctuary ;  and 
the  hermit-preacher  urged  Louis  to  go  on  a  cru- 
sade in  order  to  atone  for  the  dreadful  guilt  he 
had  incurred  by  not  only  violating  a  sanctuary, 
but  by  overwhelming,  in  doing  it,  so  many 
hundreds  of  innocent  women  and  children  in  the 
awful  suffering  of  being  burned  to  death.  So 
Louis  determined  to  go  on  a  crusade,  and  Ele- 
anora determined  to  accompany  him.  Her  mo- 
tive was  a  love  of  adventure  and  a  fondness  for 
notoriety.  She  thought  that  by  going  out,  a 
young  and  beautiful  princess,  at  the  head  of  an 
army  of  Crusaders,  into  the  East,  she  would 
make  herself  a  renowned  heroine  in  the  eyes  of 
the  whole  world.  So  she  immediately  com> 
menced  her  preparations,  and  by  the  command- 
ing influence  which  she  exerted  over  the  ladies 
of  the  court,  she  soon  inspired  them  all  witb 
her  own  romantic  ardor. 


1137.]  KING   RICHARD'S   MOTHER.      21 


The  power  of  ridicule. 


The  ladies  at  once  laid  aside  their  feminine 
dress,  and  clothed  themselves  like  Amazons,  so 
that  they  could  ride  astride  on  horseback  like 
men.  All  their  talk  was  of  arms,  and  armor, 
and  horses,  and  camps.  They  endeavored,  too, 
to  interest  all  the  men — the  princes,  and  barons, 
and  knights  that  surrounded  them  —  in  their 
plans,  and  to  induce  them  to  join  the  expedi- 
tion. A  great  many  did  so,  but  there  were 
some  that  shook  their  heads  and  seemed  in- 
clined to  stay  at  home.  They  knew  that  so 
wild  and  heedless  a  plan  as  this  could  end  in 
nothing  but  disaster.  The  ladies  ridiculed 
these  men  for  their  cowardice  and  want  of  spir- 
it, and  they  sent  them  their  distaffs  as  presents. 
"  We  have  no  longer  any  use  for  the  distaffs," 
said  they,  "but,  as  you  are  intending  to  stay 
at  home  and  make  women  of  yourselves,  we 
send  them  to  you,  so  that  you  may  occupy 
yourselves  with  spinning  while  we  are  gone." 
By  such  taunts  and  ridicule  as  this,  a  great 
many  were  shamed  into  joining  the  expedition, 
whose  good  sense  made  them  extremely  averse 
to  have  any  thing  to  do  with  it. 

The  expedition  was  at  length  organized  and 
prepared  to  set  forth.  It  was  encumbered  by 
the  immense  quantity  of  baggage  which  the 


22  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1137. 

The  plans  and  purposes  of  the  female  Crusaders.  Antioch. 

queen  and  her  party  of  women  insisted  on  tak- 
ing. It  is  true  that  they  had  assumed  the  dress 
of  Amazons,  but  this  was  only  for  the  camp  and 
the  field.  They  expected  to  enjoy  a  great  many 
pleasures  while  they  were  gone,  to  give  and  re- 
ceive a  great  many  entertainments,  and  to  live 
in  luxury  and  splendor  in  the  great  cities  of  the 
East.  So  they  must  needs  take  with  them 
large  quantities  of  baggage,  containing  dresses 
and  stores  of  female  paraphernalia  of  all  kinds. 
The  king  remonstrated  against  this  folly,  but 
all  to  no  purpose.  The  ladies  thought  it  very 
hard  if,  in  going  on  such  an  expedition,  they 
could  not  take  with  them  the  usual  little  com- 
forts and  conveniences  appropriate  to  their  sex. 
So  it  ended  with  their  having  their  own  way. 

The  caprices  and  freaks  of  these  women  con- 
tinued to  harass  and  interfere  with  the  expedi- 
tion during  the  whole  course  of  it.  The  army 
of  Crusaders  reached  at  length  a  place  near  An- 
tioch, in  Asia  Minor,  where  they  encountered 
the  Saracens.  Antioch  was  then  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  Christians.  It  was  under  the 
command  of  the  Prince  Raymond,  who  has  al- 
ready been  spoken  of  as  Eleanora's  uncle.  Ray- 
mond was  a  young  and  very  handsome  prince, 
and  Eleanora  anticipated  great  pleasure  in  vis- 


1137.]  KING   RICHARD'S   MOTHER.      23 

Meeting  the  Saracens.  Choosing  an  encampment. 

iting  his  capital.  The  expedition  had  not,  how- 
ever, yet  reached  it,  but  were  advancing  through 
the  country,  defending  themselves  as  well  as 
they  could  against  the  troops  of  Arab  horsemen 
that  were  harassing  their  march. 

The  commanders  were  greatly  perplexed  in 
this  emergency  to  know  what  to  do  with  the 
women,  and  with  their  immense  train  of  bag- 
gage. The  king  at  last  sent  them  on  in  ad- 
vance, with  all  his  best  troops  to  accompany 
them.  He  directed  them  to  go  on,  and  encamp 
for  the  night  on  certain  high  ground  which  he 
designated,  where  they  would  be  safe,  he  said, 
from  an  attack  by  the  Arabs.  But  when  they 
approached  the  place,  Eleanora  found  a  green 
and  fertile  valley  near,  which  was  very  roman- 
tic and  beautiful,  and  she  decided  at  once  that 
this  was  a  much  prettier  place  to  encamp  in 
than  the  bare  hill  above.  The  officers  in  com- 
mand of  the  troops  remonstrated  in  vain.  El- 
eanora and  the  ladies  insisted  on  encamping  in 
the  valley.  The  consequence  was,  that  the 
Arabs  came  and  got  possession  of  the  hill,  and 
thus  put  themselves  between  the  division  of  the 
army  which  was  with  Eleanora  and  that  which 
was  advancing  under  the  king.  A  great  battle 
was  fought.  The  French  were  defeated.  A 


24  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1137. 

The  result  of  the  queen's  generalship.  A  quarrel. 

great  many  thousand  men  were  slain.  All  the 
provisions  for  the  army  were  cut  off,  and  all 
the  ladies'  baggage  was  seized  and  plundered 
by  the  Arabs.  The  remainder  of  the  army, 
with  the  king,  and  the  queen,  and  the  ladies, 
succeeded  in  making  their  escape  to  Antioch, 
and  there  Prince  Raymond  opened  the  gates 
and  let  them  in. 

As  soon  as  Eleanora  and  the  other  ladies  re- 
covered a  little  from  their  fright  and  fatigue, 
they  began  to  lead  very  gay  lives  in  Antioch, 
and  before  long  a  serious  quarrel  broke  out  be- 
tween Louis  and  the  queen.  The  cause  of  this 
quarrel  was  Raymond.  He  was  a  young  and 
handsome  man,  and  he  soon  began  to  show  such 
fondness  for  Eleanora  that  the  king's  jealousy 
was  aroused,  and  at  length  the  king  discerned, 
as  he  said,  proofs  of  such  a  degree  of  intimacy 
between  them  as  to  fill  him  with  rage.  He  de- 
termined to  leave  Antioch  immediately,  and 
take  Eleanora  with  him.  She  was  very  unwil- 
ling to  go,  but  the  king  was  so  angry  that  he 
compelled  her  to  accompany  him.  So  he  went 
away  abruptly,  scarcely  bidding  Raymond  good- 
by  at  all,  and  proceeded  with  Eleanora  and 
nearly  all  his  company  to  Jerusalem.  Eleano- 
ra submitted,  though  she  was  exceedingly  out 
of  humor 


1137.J  KING   RICHARD'S   MOTHER.      25 

The  queen  at  Jerusalem.  A  divorce  proposed. 

The  king,  too,  on  his  part,  was  as  much  out 
of  humor  as  the  queen.  He  determined  that 
he  would  not  allow  her  to  accompany  him  any 
more  on  the  campaign ;  so  he  left  her  at  Jeru- 
salem, a  sort  of  prisoner,  while  he  put  himself 
at  the  head  of  his  army  and  went  forth  to  pros- 
ecute the  war.  By-and-by,  when  he  came  back 
to  Jerusalem,  and  inquired  about  his  wife's  con- 
duct while  he  had  been  gone,  he  learned  some 
facts  in  respect  to  the  intimacy  which  she  had 
formed  with  a  prince  of  the  country  during  his 
absence,  that  made  him  more  angry  than  ever. 
He  declared  that  he  would  sue  for  a  divorce. 
She  was  a  wicked  woman,  he  said,  and  he  would 
repudiate  her. 

One  of  his  ministers,  however,  contrived  to 
appease  him,  at  least  so  far  as  to  induce  him  to 
abandon  this  design.  The  minister  did  not 
pretend  to  say  that  Eleanora  was  innocent,  or 
that  she  did  not  deserve  to  be  repudiated,  but 
he  said  that  if  the  divorce  was  to  be  carried  into 
effect,  then  Louis  would  lose  all  claim  to  Elea- 
nora's  possessions,  for  it  will  be  recollected  that 
the  dukedom  of  Aquitaine,  and  the  other  rich 
possessions  which  belonged  to  Eleanora  before 
her  marriage,  continued  entirely  separate  from 
the  kingdom  of  France,  and  still  belonged  to  her. 


26  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1137. 

The  failure  of  the  crusade.  Returning  to  France. 

The  king  and  Eleanora  had  a  daughter  named 
Margaret,  who  was  now  a  young  child,  but  who, 
when  she  grew  up,  would  inherit  both  her  fa- 
ther's and  her  mother's  possessions,  and  thus,  in 
the  end,  they  would  be  united,  if  the  king  and 
queen  continued  to  live  together  in  peace.  But 
this  would  be  all  lost,  as  the  minister  maintain- 
ed in  his  argument  with  the  king,  in  case  of  a 
divorce. 

"If  you  are  divorced  from  her,"  said  he, 
"  she  will  soon  be  married  again,  and  then  all 
her  possessions  will  finally  go  out  of  your  fam- 
ily." 

So  the  king  concluded  to  submit  to  the  shame 
of  his  wife's  dishonor,  and  still  keep  her  as  his 
wife.  But  he  had  now  lost  all  interest  in  the 
crusade,  partly  on  account  of  his  want  of  suc- 
cess in  it,  and  partly  on  account  of  his  domestic 
troubles.  So  he  left  the  Holy  Land,  and  took 
the  queen  and  the  ladies,  and  the  remnant  of 
his  troops,  back  again  to  Paris.  Here  he  and 
the  queen  lived  very  unhappily  together  for  about 
two  years. 

At  the  end  of  this  time  the  queen  became  in- 
volved in  new  difficulties  in  consequence  of  her 
intrigues.  The  time  had  passed  away  so  rapid- 
ly that  it  was  now  thirteen  years  since  her  mar- 


1137.]  KING  KICHARD'S   MOTHER.       27 

The  queen's  new  lover.  A  divorce  again  proposed. 

riage,  and  she  was  about  twenty-eight  years  of 
age  —  old  enough,  one  would  think,  to  have 
learned  some  discretion.  After,  however,  amus- 
ing herself  with  various  lovers,  she  at  length 
became  enamored  of  a  young  prince  named  Hen- 
ry Plantagenet,  who  afterward  became  Henry 
the  Second  of  England,  and  was  the  father  of 
Richard,  the  hero  of  this  history.  Henry  was 
at  this  time  Duke  of  Normandy.  He  came  to 
risit  the  court  of  Louis  in  Paris,  and  here,  after 
a  short  time,  Eleanora  conceived  the  idea  of 
being  divorced  from  Louis  in  order  to  marry 
him.  Henry  was  a  great  deal  younger  than 
Eleanora,  being  then  only  about  eighteen  years 
of  age;  but  he  was  very  agreeable  in  his  person 
and  manners,  and  Queen  Eleanora  was  quite 
charmed  with  him.  It  was  not,  however,  to  be 
expected  that  he  should  be  so  much  charmed 
with  her;  for,  although  she  had  been  very  beau- 
tiful, she  had  now  so  far  passed  the  period  of 
her  youth,  and  had  been  subjected  to  so  many 
exposures,  that  the  bloom  of  her  early  beauty 
was  in  a  great  measure  gone.  She  was  now 
nearly  thirty  years  old,  having  been  married 
twelve  or  thirteen  years.  She,  however,  made 
eager  advances  to  Henry,  and  finally  gave 
him  to  understand,  that  if  he  would  consent  to 


28  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1150. 

The  motives  of  Henry.  Controversy  among  historians. 

marry  her,  she  would  obtain  a  divorce  from 
King  Louis,  and  then  endow  him  with  all  her 
dominions. 

Now  there  was  a  strong  reason  operating 
upon  Henry's  mind  to  accept  this  proposal.  He 
claimed  to  be  entitled  to  the  crown  of  England. 
King  Stephen  was  at  this  time  reigning  in  Eng- 
land, but  Henry  maintained  that  he  was  a 
usurper,  and  he  was  eager  to  dispossess  him. 
Eleanora  represented  to  Henry  that,  with  all 
the  forces  of  her  dominions,  she  could  easily  en- 
able him  to  do  that,  and  so  at  length  the  idea 
of  making  himself  a  king  overcame  his  natural 
repugnance  to  take  a  wife  almost  twice  as  old 
as  he  was  himself,  and  she,  too,  the  divorced 
and  discarded  wife  of  another  man.  So  he 
agreed  to  Eleanora's  proposal,  and  measures 
were  soon  taken  to  effect  the  divorce. 

There  is  some  dispute  among  the  ancient  his- 
torians in  respect  to  this  divorce.  Some  say 
that  it  was  the  king  that  originated  it,  and  that 
the  cause  which  he  alleged  was  the  freedom  of 
the  queen  in  her  love  for  other  men,  and  that 
Eleanora,  when  she  found  that  the  divorce  was 
resolved  upon,  formed  the  plan  of  beguiling 
young  Henry  into  a  marriage  with  her,  to  save 
her  fall.  Others  say  that  the  divorce  was  her 


1150.]  KING  RICHARD'S  MOTHEK.       29 


The  real  motives  in  the  divorce. 


plan  alone,  and  that  the  pretext  for  it  was  the 
relationship  that  existed  between  her  and  King 
Louis,  for  they  were  in  some  degree  related  to 
each  other;  and  the  rules  of  the  Church  of 
Rome  were  very  strict  against  such  marriages. 
It  is  not  improbable,  however,  that  the  real  rea- 
son of  the  divorce  was  that  the  king  desired  it 
on  account  of  his  wife's  loose  and  irregular  char- 
acter, while  Eleanora  wished  for  it  in  order  to 
have  a  more  agreeable  husband.  She  never  had 
liked  Louis.  He  was  a  very  grave  and  even 
gloomy  man,  who  thought  of  nothing  but  the 
Church,  and  his  penances  and  prayers,  so  that 
Eleanora  said  he  was  more  of  a  monk  than  a 
king.  This  monkish  turn  of  mind  had  in- 
creased upon  the  king  since  his  return  from  the 
Crusades.  He  made  it  a  matter  of  conscience 
to  wear  coarse  and  plain  clothes  instead  of 
dressing  handsomely  like  a  king,  and  he  cut  off 
the  curls  of  his  hair,  which  had  been  very  beau- 
tiful, and  shaved  his  head  and  his  mustaches. 
This  procedure  disgusted  Eleanora  completely. 
She  despised  her  husband  herself,  and  ridiculed 
him  to  others,  saying  that  he  had  made  himself 
look  like  an  old  priest.  In  a  word,  all  her  love 
for  him  was  entirely  gone.  Both  parties  being 
thus  very  willing  to  have  the  marriage  annulled, 


30  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1152- 

A  violent  courtship  and  a  narrow  escape. 

they  agreed  to  put  it  on  the  ground  of  their  re- 
lationship, in  order  to  avoid  scandal. 

At  any  rate,  the  marriage  was  dissolved,  and 
Eleanora  set  out  from  Paris  to  return  to  Bor- 
deaux, the  capital  of  her  own  country.  Henry- 
was  to  meet  her  on  the  way.  Her  road  lay 
along  the  banks  of  the  Loire.  Here  she  stop- 
ped for  a  day  or  two.  The  count  who  ruled 
this  province,  who  was  a  very  gay  and  hand- 
some man,  offered  her  his  hand.  He  wished  to 
add  her  dominions  to  his  own.  Eleanora  re- 
fused him.  The  count  resolved  not  to  take  the 
refusal,  and,  under  some  pretext  or  other,  he  de- 
tained her  in  his  castle,  resolving  to  keep  her 
there  until  she  should  consent.  But  Eleanora 
was  not  a  woman  to  be  conquered  by  such  a 
method  as  this.  She  pretended  to  acquiesce  in 
the  detention,  and  to  be  contented,  but  this  was 
only  to  put  the  count  off  his  guard ;  and  then, 
watching  her  opportunity,  she  escaped  from  the 
castle  in  the  night ;  and  getting  into  a  boat, 
which  she  had  caused  to  be  provided  for  the 
purpose,  she  went  down  the  river  to  the  town 
of  Tours,  which  was  some  distance  below,  and 
in  the  dominions  of  another  sovereign. 

In  going  on  from  Tours  toward  her  own  home, 
she  encountered  and  narrowly  escaped  another 


1152.]  KING   RICHARD'S  MOTHER.      31 

Geoffrey's  designs  upon  Eleanora.  Customs  of  old  times. 

danger.  It  seems  that  Geoffrey  Plantagenet, 
the  brother  of  Henry,  whom  she  had  engaged 
to  marry,  conceived  the  design  of  seizing  her 
and  compelling  her  to  marry  him  instead  of  his 
brother.  It  may  seem  strange  that  any  one 
should  be  so  unprincipled  and  base  as  to  at- 
tempt thus  to  circumvent  his  own  brother,  and 
take  away  from  him  his  intended  wife;  but  it 
was  not  a  strange  thing  at  all  for  the  members 
of  the  royal  and  princely  families  of  those  days 
to  act  in  this  manner  toward  each  other.  It 
was  the  usual  and  established  condition  of  things 
among  these  families  that  the  different  members 
of  them  should  be  perpetually  intriguing  and  ma- 
noeuvring one  against  the  other,  brother  against 
sister,  husband  against  wife,  and  father  against 
son.  In  a  vast  number  of  instances  these  con- 
tentions broke  out  into  open  war,  and  the  wars 
thus  waged  between  the  nearest  relatives  were 
of  the  most  desperate  and  merciless  character. 

It  was  therefore  a  very  moderate  and  incon- 
siderable deed  of  brotherly  hostility  on  the  part 
of  Geoffrey  to  plan  the  seizure  of  his  brother's 
intended  wife,  in  order  to  get  possession  of  her 
dominions.  The  plan  which  he  formed  was  to 
lie  in  wait  for  the  boat  which  was  to  convey 
Eleanora  down  the  river,  and  seize  her  as  she 


32  KINO  RICHARD  I. 


Eleanors  eluded  Geoffrey.  She  is  married  to  Henry.. 

came  by.  She,  however,  avoided  this  snare  by- 
turning  off  into  a  branch  of  the  river  which 
came  from  the  south.  You  will  see  the  course 
of  the  river  and  the  situation  of  this  southern, 
branch  on  the  map.*  The  branch  which  Elea- 
nora  followed  not  only  took  her  away  from  the 
ambush  which  Geoffrey  had  laid  for  her,  but 
conducted  her  toward  her  own  home,  where,  aft- 
er meeting  with  various  other  adventures,  she 
arrived  safely  at  last.  Here  Henry  Plantag- 
enet  soon  joined  her,  and  they  were  married. 
The  marriage  took  place  only  six  weeks  after 
her  divorce  from  her  former  husband.  Tins- 
was  considered  a  very  scandalous  transaction 
throughout,  and  Eleanora  was  now  considered 
as  having  forfeited  all  claims  to  respectability 
of  character.  Still  she  was  a  great  duchess  in 
her  own  right,  and  was  now  wife  of  the  heir-ap- 
parent of  the  English  throne,  and  so  her  char- 
acter made  little  difference  in  the  estimation  in 
which  she  was  held  by  the  world. 

From  the  time  of  her  first  engagement  with 
Henry  nearly  two  years  had  elapsed  before  all 
the  proceedings  in  relation  to  the  divorce  had 
been  completed  so  as  to  prepare  the  way  for  the 
marriage,  and  now  Eleanora  was  about  thirty- 
*  See  page  14. 


1153.]  KING   RICHARD'S  MOTHER.      33 

Henry's  expedition  to  England.  His  final  coronation. 

two  years  of  age,  while  Henry  was  only  twen- 
ty. Henry  seems  to  have  felt  no  love  for  his 
wife.  He  had  acceded  to  her  proposal  to  mar- 
ry him  only  in  order  to  obtain  the  assistance 
which  the  forces  of  her  dominions  might  sup- 
ply him  in  gaining  possession  of  the  English 
throne. 

Accordingly,  about  a  year  after  the  marriage, 
a  military  expedition  was  fitted  out  to  proceed 
to  England.  The  expedition  consisted  of  thir- 
ty-six ships,  and  a  large  force  of  fighting  menu. 
Henry  landed  in  England  at  the  head  of  this 
force,  and  advanced  against  Stephen.  The  twc* 
princes  fought  for  some  time  without  any  very 
decisive  success  on  either  side,  when  at  length 
they  concluded  to  settle  the  quarrel  by  a  com- 
promise. It  was  agreed  that  Stephen  should 
continue  to  hold  the  crown  as  long  as  he  lived, 
and  then  that  Henry  should  succeed  him.  When 
this  arrangement  had  been  made,  Henry  return- 
ed to  Normandy ;  and  then,  after  two  or  three 
years,  he  heard  of  Stephen's  death.  He  then 
went  immediately  to  England  again,  and  was 
universally  acknowledged  as  king.  Eleanora 
went  with  him  as  queen,  and  very  soon  they 
were  crowned  at  Westminster  with  the  greatest 

possible  pomp  and  parade. 
7—3 


34  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1154. 


Eleanora  Queen  of  England. 


And  thus  it  was  that  Eleanora  of  Aquitaine, 
the  mother  of  Richard,  in  the  year  eleven  hund- 
red and  fifty-four,  became  queen-consort  of  En- 
gland. 


1154.]   RICHARD'S   EARLY   LIFE.          35 

The  sons  and  daughters  of  King  Henry. 


CHAPTER  II. 
RICHARD'S  EARLY   LIFE. 

ALMOST  all  the  early  years  of  the  life  of 
our  hero  were  spent  in  wars  which  were 
waged  by  the  different  members  of  his  father's 
family  against  each  other.  These  wars  origi- 
nated in  the  quarrels  that  arose  between  the  sons 
and  their  father  in  respect  to  the  family  prop- 
erty and  power.  Henry  had  five  sons,  of  whom 
Richard  was  the  third.  He  had  also  three 
daughters.  The  king  held  a  great  variety  of 
possessions,  having  inherited  from  his  father  and 
grandfather,  or  received  through  his  wife,  a  num- 
ber of  distinct  and  independent  realms.  Thus 
he  was  duke  of  one  country,  earl  of  another, 
king  of  a  third,  and  count  of  a  fourth.  England 
was  his  kingdom,  Normandy  was  his  great  duke- 
dom, and  he  held,  besides,  various  other  realms. 
He  was  a  generous  father,  and  he  began  early 
by  conveying  some  of  these  provinces  to  his 
sons.  But  they  were  not  contented  with  the 
portions  that  he  voluntarily  assigned  them. 


36  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1154. 


Rebellions  and  family  quarrels. 


They  called  for  more.  Sometimes  the  father 
yielded  to  these  unreasonable  demands,  but 
yielding  only  made  the  young  men  more  grasp- 
ing than  before,  and  at  length  the  father  would 
resist.  Then  came  rebellions,  and  leagues  form- 
ed by  the  sons  against  the  father,  and  the  mus- 
terings  of  armies,  and  battles,  and  sieges.  The 
mother  generally  took  part  with  the  sons  in 
these  unnatural  contests,  and  in  the  course  of 
them  the  most  revolting  spectacles  were  present- 
ed to  the  eyes  of  the  world — of  towns  belong- 
ing to  a  father  sacked  and  burned  by  the  sons, 
or  castles  beleaguered,  and  the  garrisons  reduced 
to  famine,  in  which  a  husband  was  defending 
himself  against  the  forces  of  his  wife,  or  a  sister 
against  those  of  a  brother.  Richard  himself, 
who  seems  to  have  been  the  most  desperate  and 
reckless  of  the  family,  began  to  take  an  active 
part  in  these  rebellions  against  his  father  when 
he  was  only  seventeen  years  old. 

These  wars  continued,  with  various  tempo- 
rary interruptions,  for  many  years,  and  when- 
ever at  any  time  a  brief  peace  was  made  be- 
tween the  sons  and  the  father,  then  the  young 
men  would  usually  fall  to  quarreling  among 
themselves.  Indeed,  Henry,  the  oldest  of  them, 
said  that  the  only  possible  bond  of  peace  be- 


1154.]   RICHARD'S   EARLY   LIFE.          37 

The  appearance  of  the  Queen  Eleanora  in  London. 

tween  the  brothers  seemed  to  be  a  common  war 
against  their  father. 

Nor  did  the  king  live  on  much  better  terms 
with  his  wife  than  he  did  with  his  children. 
At  the  time  of  Eleanora's  marriage  with  Henry, 
her  prospects  were  bright  indeed.  The  people 
of  England,  notwithstanding  the  evil  reports 
that  were  spread  in  respect  to  her  character,  re- 
ceived her  as  their  queen  with  much  enthusi- 
asm, and  on  the  occasion  of  her  coronation  they 
made  a  great  deal  of  parade  to  celebrate  the 
event.  Her  appearance  at  that  time  attracted 
unusual  attention.  This  was  partly  on  account 
of  her  personal  attractions  and  partly  on  ac- 
count of  her  dress.  The  style  of  her  dress  was 
quite  Oriental.  She  had  brought  home  with 
her  from  Antioch  a  great  many  Eastern  fash- 
ions, and  many  elegant  articles  of  dress,  such  as 
mantles  of  silk  and  brocade,  scarfs,  jeweled  gir- 
dles and  bands,  and  beautiful  veils,  such  as  are 
worn  at  the  East.  These  dresses  were  made  at 
Constantinople,  and  when  displayed  by  the 
queen  in  London  they  received  a  great  deal  of 
admiration. 

We  can  see  precisely  how  the  queen  looked 
in  these  dresses  by  means  of  illuminated  por- 
traits of  her  contained  in  the  books  written  at 


38  KING  KICHARD  I.          [1154. 

Illuminated  portraits.  The  queen's  attire.  The  king's  attire. 

that  time.  It  was  the  custom  in  those  days  in 
writing  books — the  work  of  which  was  all  ex- 
ecuted by  hand — to  embellish  them  with  what 
were  called  illuminations.  These  were  small 
paintings  inserted  here  and  there  upon  the  page, 
representing  the  distinguished  personages  named 
in  the  writing.  These  portraits  were  painted  in 
Tery  brilliant  colors,  and  there  are  several  still 
remaining  that  show  precisely  how  Eleanora 
appeared  in  one  of  her  Oriental  dresses.  She 
wears  a  close  head-dress,  with  a  circlet  of  gems 
over  it.  There  is  a  gown  made  with  tight 
sleeves,  and  fastened  with  full  gathers  just  be- 
low the  throat,  where  it  is  confined  by  a  rich 
collar  of  gems.  Over  this  is  an  elegant  outer 
robe  bordered  with  fur.  The  sleeves  of  the 
outer  robe  are  very  full  and  loose,  and  are  lined 
with  ermine.  They  open  so  as  to  show  the 
close  sleeves  beneath.  Over  all  is  a  long  and 
beautiful  gauze  veil. 

The  dress  of  the  king  was  very  rich  and  gor- 
geous too ;  and  so,  indeed,  was  that  of  all  the 
ecclesiastics  and  other  dignitaries  that  took  part 
in  the  celebration.  All  London  was  filled  with 
festivity  and  rejoicing  on  the  occasion,  and  the 
queen's  heart  overflowed  with  pride  and  joy. 

After  the  coronation,  the  king  conducted  El- 


1154.]   RICHARD'S  EARLY  LIFE.          39 

The  palace  at  Bermondsey.  Scenes  of  festivity. 

«anora  to  a  beautiful  country  residence  called 
Bermondsey,  which  was  at  a  short  distance  from 
Jjondon,  toward  the  south.  Here  there  was  a 
palace,  and  gardens,  and  beautiful  grounds. 
The  palace  was  on  an  elevation  which  com- 
manded a  fine  view  of  the  capital.  Here  the 
queen  lived  in  royal  state.  She  had,  however, 
other  palaces  besides,  and  she  often  went  to  and 
fro  among  her  different  residences.  She  con- 
trived a  great  many  entertainments  to  amuse 
her  court,  such  as  comedies,  games,  revels,  and 
celebrations  of  all  sorts.  The  king  joined  with 
her  in  these  schemes  of  pleasure.  One  of  the 
historians  of  the  time  gives  a  curious  account 
of  the  appearance  of  the  king  and  the  court  in 
their  excursions.  "  When  the  king  sets  out  of 
a  morning,  you  see  multitudes  of  people  run- 
ning up  and  down  as  if  they  were  distracted — 
horses  rushing  against  horses,  carriages  over- 
turning carriages,  players,  gamesters,  cooks, 
confectioners,  morrice-dancers,  barbers,  courte- 
zans, and  parasites — making  so  much  noise,  and, 
in  a  word,  such  an  intolerable  tumultuous  jum- 
ble of  horse  and  foot,  that  you  can  imagine  the 
great  abyss  hath  opened  and  poured  forth  all  its 
inhabitants." 

Jt  was  about  three  years  after  Eleanora  was 


40  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1154. 

The  palace  at  Oxford.       Its  present  appearance.       An  early  marriage. 

crowned  Queen  of  England  that  Richard  was 
bom.  At  the  time  of  his  birth,  the  queen  was 
residing  at  a  palace  in  Oxford.  The  palace  has 
gone  pretty  much  to  ruin.  The  building  is  now 
used  in  part  as  a  work-house.  The  room  where 
Richard  was  born  is  roofless  and  uninhabitable. 
Nothing  even  of  the  interior  of  it  remains  ex- 
cept some  traces  of  the  fire-place.  The  room, 
however,  though  thus  completely  gone  to  ruin, 
is  a  place  of  considerable  interest  to  the  English 
people,  who  visit  it  in  great  numbers  in  order 
that  they  may  see  the  place  where  the  great 
hero  was  born ;  for,  desperate  and  reckless  as 
Richard's  character  was,  the  people  of  England 
are  quite  proud  of  him  on  account  of  his  un- 
daunted bravery. 

It  is  very  curious  that  the  first  important 
event  of  Richard's  childhood  was  his  marriage. 
He  was  married  when  he  was  about  four  years 
old — that  is,  he  was  regularly  and  formally  af- 
fianced, and  a  ceremony  which  might  be  called 
the  marriage  ceremony  was  duly  performed. 
His  bride  was  a  young  child  of  Louis,  King  of 
France.  The  child  was  about  three  years  old. 
Her  name  was  Alice.  This  marriage  was  the 
result  of  a  sort  of  bargain  between  Henry,  Rich- 
ard's father,  and  Louis,  the  French  king.  They 


1162.]   RICHARD'S   EARLY   LIFE.          41 

The  reason  for  marrying  children  four  years  old. 

had  had  a  fierce  dispute  about  the  portion  of 
another  of  Louis's  children  that  had  been  mar- 
ried in  the  same  way  to  one  of  Richard's  broth- 
ers named  Henry.  The  English  king  com- 
plained that  the  dowry  was  not  sufficient,  and 
the  French  king,  after  a  long  discussion,  agreed 
to  make  it  up  by  giving  another  province  with 
his  daughter  Alice  to  Richard.  The  reason 
that  induced  the  King  of  England  to  effect  these 
marriages  was,  that  the  provinces  that  were  be- 
stowed with  their  infant  wives  as  their  dowries 
came  into  his  hands  as  the  guardian  of  their 
husbands  while  they  were  minors,  and  thus  ex- 
tended, as  it  were,  his  own  dominions. 

By  this  time  the  realms  of  King  Henry  had 
become  very  extensive.  He  inherited  Norman- 
dy, you  will  recollect,  from  his  ancestors,  and 
he  was  in  possession  of  that  country  before  he 
became  King  of  England.  When  he  was  mar- 
ried to  Eleanora,  he  acquired  through  her  a 
large  addition  to  his  territory  by  becoming, 
jointly  with  her,  the  sovereign  of  her  realms  in 
the  south  of  France.  Then,  when  he  became 
King  of  England,  his  power  was  still  more  ex- 
tended, and,  finally,  by  the  marriages  of  his 
sons,  the  young  princes,  he  received  other  prov- 
inces besides,  though,  of  course,  he  held  these 


42  KING   EICHAED   I.          [1162. 

Yice-regencies.  The  rebellions  of  Richard. 

last  only  as  the  guardian  of  his  children.  Nowr 
in  governing  these  various  realms,  the  king  was 
accustomed  to  leave  his  wife  and  his  sons  in 
different  portions  of  them,  to  rule  them  in  his 
absence,  though  still  under  his  command.  They 
each  maintained  a  sort  of  court  in  the  city  where 
their  father  left  them,  but  they  were  expected  to- 
govern  the  several  portions  of  the  country  in 
strict  subjection  to  their  father's  general  control. 
The  boys,  however,  as  they  grew  older,  became 
more  and  more  independent  in  feeling ;  and  the 
queen,  being  a  great  deal  older  than  her  hus- 
band, and  having  been,  before  her  marriage,  a 
sovereign  in  her  own  right,  was  disposed  to  be 
very  little  submissive  to  his  authority.  It  was 
under  these  circumstances  that  the  family  quar- 
rels arose  that  led  to  the  wars  spoken  of  at  the 
beginning  of  the  chapter.  Richard  himself, 
as  was  there  stated,  began  to  raise  rebellions 
against  his  father  when  he  was  about  seventeen, 
years  old. 

Whenever,  in  the  course  of  these  wars,  the 
young  men  found  themselves  worsted  in  their 
contests  with  their  father's  troops,  their  resource 
was  to  fly  to  Paris,  in  order  to  get  King  Louis 
to  aid  them.  This  Louis  was  always  willing; 
to  do,  for  he  took  great  pleasure  in  the  dissen- 


1162.]    RICHARD'S   EARLY  LIFE.         43 

Eleanora' s  time  of  suffering  cornea. 

-sions  which  were  thus  continually  breaking  out 
in  Henry's  family. 

Besides  these  wars,  Queen  Eleanora  had  one 
great  and  bitter  source  of  trouble  in  a  guilty 
attachment  which  her  husband  cherished  for  a 
beautiful  lady  more  nearly  of  his  own  age  than 
his  wife  was.  Her  name  was  Rosamond.  She 
is  known  in  history  as  Fair  Rosamond.  A  full 
account  of  her  will  be  given  in  the  next  chap- 
ter. All  that  is  necessary  to  state  here  is  that 
Queen  Eleanora  was  made  very  wretched  by  her 
husband's  love  for  Rosamond,  though  she  had 
scarcely  any  right  to  complain,  for  she  had,  as 
it  would  seem,  done  all  in  her  power  to  alienate 
the  affections  of  her  husband  from  herself  by 
the  levity  of  her  conduct,  and  by  her  bold  and 
independent  behavior  in  all  respects.  At  last, 
at  one  time  while  she  was  at  Bordeaux,  the 
capital  of  her  realm  of  Aquitaine,  she  heard  ru- 
mors that  the  king  was  intending  to  obtain  a 
divorce  from  her,  in  order  that  he  might  openly 
marry  Rosamond,  and  she  determined  to  go  back 
to  her  former  husband,  Louis  of  France.  The 
country,  however,  was  full  of  caetles,  which  were 
garrisoned  by  Henry's  troops,  and  she  was 
afraid  that  they  would  prevent  her  going  if  they 
knew  of  her  intention ;  so  she  contrived  a  plan 


44  KING  RICHARD   I.         [1162. 

The  queen's  flight.  The  captivity  iu  Winchester. 

of  disguising  herself  in  man's  clothes,  and  un- 
dertook to  make  her  escape  in  that  way.  She 
succeeded  in  getting  away  from  Bordeaux,  but 
her  flight  was  soon  discovered,  and  the  officers 
of  the  garrison  immediately  sent  off  a  party  to 
pursue  her.  The  pursuers  overtook  her  before 
she  had  gone  far,  and  brought  her  back.  They 
treated  her  quite  roughly,  and  kept  her  a  pris- 
oner in  Bordeaux  until  her  husband  came. 
When  Henry  arrived  he  was  quite  angry  with 
the  queen  for  having  thus  undertaken  to  go  back 
to  her  former  husband,  whom  he  considered  as 
his  greatest  rival  and  enemy,  and  he  determined 
that  she  should  have  no  opportunity  to  make 
another  such  attempt;  so  he  kept  a  very  strict 
watch  over  her,  and  subjected  her  to  so  much 
restraint  that  she  considered  herself  a  prisoner. 
The  king  had  a  quarrel  also  at  this  time  with 
one  of  his  daughters-in-law,  and  he  made  her  a 
prisoner  too.  Soon  after  this  he  went  back  to 
England,  taking  these  two  captives  in  his  train. 
In  a  short  time  he  sent  the  queen  to  a  certain 
palace  which  he  had  in  Winchester,  and  there 
he  kept  her  confined  for  sixteen  years.  It  was 
during  this  period  of  their  mother's  captivity 
that  the  wars  between  the  father  and  his  sons 
was  waged  most  fiercely. 


1182.]     RICHARD'S  EARLY  LIFE.         45 

The  message  from  Henry.  His  death.  Remorse. 

At  length,  in  the  year  eleven  hundred  and 
eighty-two,  in  the  midst  of  one  of  the  most  vi- 
olent wars  that  had  raged  between  the  king  and 
his  sons,  a  message  came  to  the  king  that  his 
son  Henry  was  very  dangerously  sick,  and  that 
he  wished  his  'father  to  come  and  see  him.  The 
king  was  greatly  at  a  loss  what  to  do  on  receiv- 
ing this  communication.  His  counselors  ad- 
vised him  not  to  go.  It  was  only  a  stratagem, 
they  said,  on  the  part  of  the  young  prince,  to 
get  his  father  into  his  camp,  and  so  take  him 
prisoner.  So  the  king  concluded  not  to  go. 
He  had,  however,  some  misgivings  that  his  son 
might  be  really  sick,  and  accordingly  dispatched 
an  archbishop  to  him  with  a  ring,  which  he  said 
he  sent  to  him  as  a  token  of  his  forgiveness  and 
of  his  paternal  affection.  Very  soon,  however, 
a  second  messenger  came  to  the  king  to  say 
that  Prince  Henry  had  died.  These  sad  tidings 
overwhelmed  the  heart  of  the  king  with  the  most 
poignant  grief.  He  at  once  forgot  all  the  un- 
dutiful  and  disobedient  conduct  of  his  son,  and 
remembered  him  only  as  his  dearly-beloved 
child.  He  became  almost  broken-hearted. 

The  prince  himself,  on  his  death-bed,  was 
borne  down  with  remorse  and  anguish  in  think- 
ing of  the  crimes  that  he  had  committed  against 


46  KING  RICHARD  I.  [1182. 

The  agonies  of  a  wicked  man's  death. 

liis  father.  He  longed  to  have  his  father  come 
and  see  him  before  he  died.  The  ring  which 
the  archbishop  was  sent  to  bring  to  him  arrived 
just  in  time,  and  the  prince  pressed  it  to  his 
lips,  and  blessed  it  with  tears  of  frantic  grief. 
As  the  hour  of  death  approached  his  remorse 
became  dreadful.  All  the  attempts  made  by 
the  priests  around  his  bed  to  soothe  and  quiet 
him  were  unavailing,  and  at  last  his  agony  be- 
came so  great  that  he  compelled  them  to  put  a 
rope  around  him  and  drag  him  from  his  bed  to 
a  heap  of  ashes,  placed  for  the  purpose  in  his 
room,  that  he  might  die  there.  A  heap  of  ash- 
es, he  said,  was  the  only  fit  place  for  such  a 
reprobate  as  he  had  been. 

So  will  it  be  with  all  undutiful  children ; 
when  on  their  death-beds,  they  reflect  on  their 
disobedient  and  rebellious  conduct  toward  the 
father  and  the  mother  to  whom  they  owe  their 
being. 

It  is  remarkable  how  great  an  effect  a  death 
in  a  family  produces  in  reconciling  those  who 
before  had  been  at  enmity  with  each  other. 
There  are  many  husbands  and  wives  who  great- 
ly disagree  with  each  other  in  times  of  health 
.and  prosperity,  but  who  are  reconciled  and  made 
to  love  each  other  by  adversity  and  sorrow. 


1184.]    RICHARD'S  EARLY  LIFE.         47 

Affliction  reconciles  hostile  relatives.  Another  quarreL 

Such  was  the  effect  produced  upon  the  minds 
of  Henry  and  Eleanora  by  the  death  of  their 
son  and  heir.  They  were  both  overwhelmed 
with  grief,  for  the  affection  which  a  parent  bears 
to  a  child  is  never  wholly  extinguished,  howev- 
er undutiful  and  rebellious  a  child  may  be;  and 
the  grief  which  the  two  parents  now  felt  in  com- 
mon brought  them  to  a  reconciliation.  The 
king  seemed  disposed  to  forgive  the  queen  for 
the  offenses,  whether  real  or  imaginary,  which 
she  had  committed  against  him.  "Now  that 
Our  dear  son  is  dead  and  gone,"  said  he,  "let 
as  no  longer  quarrel  with  each  other."  So  he 
liberated  the  queen  from  the  restraint  which  he 
had  imposed  upon  her,  and  restored  her  once 
more  to  her  rank  as  an  English  queen. 

This  state  of  things  continued  for  about  a 
year,  and  then  the  old  spirit  of  animosity  and 
contention  burned  up  once  more  as  fiercely  as- 
ever.  The  king  shut  up  Eleanora  again,  and  a 
violent  quarrel  broke  out  between  the  king  and 
his  son  Richard. 

The  cause  of  this  quarrel  was  connected  with- 
the  Princess  Alice,  to  whom  it  will  be  recollect- 
ed Richard  had  been  betrothed  in  his  infancy. 
Richard  claimed  that  now,  since  he  was  of  age, 
his  wife  ought  to  be  given  to  him,  but  his  father 


48  KING   RICHARD  I.          [1184. 

Richard's  long  engagement.  The  sad  death  of  Geoffrey. 

kept  her  away,  and  would  not  allow  the  mar- 
riage to  be  consummated.  The  king  made  va- 
rious excuses  and  pretexts  for  the  delay.  Some 
thought  that  the  real  reason  was  that  he  wish- 
«ed  to  continue  his  guardianship  and  his  pos- 
session of  the  dower  as  long  as  possible,  but 
Richard  thought  that  his  father  was  in  love 
with  Alice  himself,  and  that  he  did  not  intend 
that  he,  Richard,  should  have  her  at  all.  This 
•difficulty  led  to  new  quarrels,  in  which  the  king 
and  Richard  became  more  exasperated  with  each 
other  than  ever.  This  state  of  things  contin- 
ued until  Richard  was  thirty-four  years  old  and 
his  bride  was  thirty.  Richard  was  so  far  bound 
to  her  that  he  could  not  marry  any  other  lady, 
and  his  father  obstinately  persisted  in  prevent- 
ing his  completing  the  marriage  with  her. 

In  the  mean  time  Prince  Geoffrey,  another  of 
the  king's  sons,  came  to  a  miserable  end.  He 
was  killed  in  a  tournament.  He  was  riding 
furiously  in  the  tournament  in  the  midst  of  a 
great  number  of  other  horsemen,  when  he  was 
unfortunately  thrown  from  his  steed,  and  trod- 
den to  death  on  the  ground  by  the  hoofs  of  the 
other  horses  that  galloped  over  him.  The  only 
two  sons  that  were  now  left  were  Richard  and 
John.  Of  these,  Richard  was  now  the  oldest, 


1184.]    RICHARD'S   EARLY   LIFE. 


49 


-Portrait  of  King  Henry  II. 


Dividing  the  inheritance. 


POKTKAIT   OF   KING   IIENKY    II. 


and  he  was,  of  course,  his  father's  heir.  King 
Henry,  however,  formed  a  plan  for  dividing  his 
dominions  between  his  two  sons,  instead  of  al- 
lowing Richard  to  inherit  the  whole.  John  was 
liis  youngest  son,  and,  as  such,  the  king  loved 
Jaim  tenderly.  So  he  conceived  the  idea  of 
7-4 


50  KING   KICHARD  I.          [1184. 

Richard's  resi»tonce  to  his  father's  plans.  Assistance  from  Philip. 

leaving  to  Richard  all  his  possessions  in  France, 
which  constituted  the  most  important  part  of 
his  dominions,  and  of  bestowing  the  kingdom 
of  England  upon  John  ;  and,  in  order  to  make 
sure  of  the  carrying  of  this  arrangement  into  ef- 
fect, he  proposed  crowning  John  king  of  En- 
gland forthwith. 

Richard,  however,  determined  to  resist  this 
plan.  The  former  king  of  France,  Louis  the 
Seventh,  was  now  dead,  and  his  son,  Philip  the 
Second,  the  brother  of  Alice,  reigned  in  his 
stead.  Richard  immediately  set  off  for  Paris, 
and  laid  his  case  before  the  young  French  king. 
"  I  am  engaged,"  said  he,  "to  your  sister  Alice, 
and  my  father  will  not  give  her  to  me.  Help 
me  to  maintain  my  rights  and  hers." 

Philip,  like  his  father,  was  always  ready  to 
do  any  thing  in  his  power  to  foment  dissensions 
in  the  family  of  Henry.  So  he  readily  took 
Richard's  part  in  this  new  quarrel,  and  he, 
somehow  or  other,  contrived  means  to  induce 
John  to  come  and  join  in  the  rebellion.  King 
Henry  was  overwhelmed  with  grief  when  he 
learned  that  John,  his  youngest,  and  now  his 
dearest  child,  and  the  last  that  remained,  had 
abandoned  him.  His  grief  was  mingled  with 
resentment  and  rage.  He  invoked  the  bitterest 


1184.]    RICHARD'S  EARLY  LIFE.         51 

King  Henry's  reproach  of  his  son  John.  Lady  Rosamond. 

curses  on  his  children's  heads,  and  he  caused  a 
device  to  be  painted  for  John  and  sent  to  him, 
representing  a  young  eaglet  picking  out  the  pa- 
rent eagle's  eyes.  This  was  to  typify  to  him 
his  own  undutiful  and  unnatural  behavior. 

Thus  the  domestic  life  which  Richard  led 
while  he  was  a  young  man  was  imbittered  by 
the  continual  quarrels  between  the  father,  the 
mother,  and  the  children.  The  greatest  source 
of  sorrow  to  his  mother,  however,  was  the  con- 
nection which  subsisted  between  the  king  and 
the  Lady  Rosamond.  The  nature  and  tho  re- 
sults of  this  connection  will  be  explained  in  the 
next  chapter. 


52  KING  RICHARD   I.          [1184. 

The  mystery  surrounding  Fair  Rosamond's  history. 


CHAPTER  III. 
FAIR  ROSAMOND. 

DURING  his  lifetime  King  Henry  did  ev- 
ery thing  in  his  power,  of  course,  to  keep 
the  circumstances  of  his  connection  with  Rosa- 
mond a  profound  secret,  and  to  mislead  people 
as  much  as  possible  in  regard  to  her.  After 
his  death,  too,  it  was  for  the  interest  of  his  fam- 
ily that  as  little  as  possible  should  be  known 
respecting  her.  Thus  it  happened  that,  in  the 
absence  of  all  authentic  information,  a  great 
many  strange  rumors  and  legends  were  put  in 
circulation,  and  at  length,  when  the  history  of 
those  times  came  to  be  written,  it  was  impos- 
sible to  separate  the  false  from  the  true. 

The  truth,  however,  so  far  as  it  can  now  be 
ascertained,  seems  to  be  something  like  this : 
Rosamond  was  the  daughter  of  an  English  no- 
bleman named  Clifford.  Lord  Clifford  lived  in 
a  fine  old  castle  situated  in  the  valley  of  the 
Wye,  in  a  most  romantic  and  beautiful  situa- 
tion. The  River  Wye  is  in  the  western  part 
of  England.  It  flows  out  from  among  the 


1184.]  FAIR   EOSAMOND.  53 

The  valley  of  the  Wye.  The  clandestine  marriage. 

mountains  of  Wales  through  a  wild  and  ro- 
mantic gorge,  which,  after  passing  the  English 
frontier,  expands  into  a  broad,  and  fertile,  and 
most  beautiful  valley.  The  castle  of  Lord  Clif- 
ford was  built  at  the  opening  of  the  gorge,  and 
it  commanded  an  enchanting  view  of  the  valley 
below. 

It  was  here  that  Rosamond  spent  her  child- 
hood, and  here  probably  that  Henry  first  met 
her  while  he  was  yet  a  young  man.  She  was 
extremely  beautiful,  and  Henry  fell  very  deep- 
ly in  love  with  her.  This  was  while  they  were 
both  very  young,  and  some  time  before  Henry 
thought  of  Eleanora  for  his  wife.  There  i& 
some  reason  to  believe  that  Henry  was  really 
married  to  Rosamond,  though,  if  so,  the  mar- 
riage was  a  private  one,  and  the  existence  of  it 
was  kept  a  profound  secret  from  all  the  world. 
The  real  and  public  marriages  of  kings  and 
princes  are  almost  always  determined  by  rea- 
sons of  state ;  and  when  Henry  at  last  went  to 
Paris,  and  saw  Eleanora  there,  and  found,  more- 
over, that  she  was  willing  to  marry  him,  and  to 
bring  him  as  her  dowry  all  her  possessions  in 
France,  which  would  so  greatly  extend  his  do- 
minions, he  determined  to  accede  to  her  desires, 
and  to  keep  his  connection  with  Rosamond,. 


54  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1184. 

The  palace  of  Woodstock.  Rosamond's  concealed  cottage. 

whatever  the  nature  of  it  might  have  been,  a 
profound  secret  forever. 

So  he  married  Eleanora  and  brought  her  to 
England,  and  lived  with  her,  as  has  already 
been  described,  in  the  various  palaces  which  be- 
longed to  him,  sometimes  in  one  and  sometimes 
in  another. 

Among  these  palaces,  one  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful was  that  of  Woodstock.  The  engraving 
on  the  opposite  page  represents  the  buildings 
of  the  palace  as  they  appeared  some  hundreds 
of  years  later  than  the  time  when  Rosamond 
lived. 

In  the  days  of  Henry  and  Rosamond  the 
palace  of  Woodstock  was  surrounded  with  very 
extensive  and  beautiful  gardens  and  grounds. 
Somewhere  upon  these  grounds  the  story  was 
that  Henry  kept  Rosamond  in  a  concealed  cot- 
tage. The  entrance  to  the  cottage  was  hidden 
in  the  depths  of  an  almost  impenetrable  thick- 
et, and  could  only  be  approached  through  a  tor- 
tuous and  intricate  path,  which  led  this  way 
and  that  by  an  infinite  number  of  turns,  form- 
ing a  sort  of  maze,  made  purposely  to  bewilder 
those  attempting  to  pass  in  and  out.  Such  a 
place  was  often  made  in  those  days  in  palace- 
grounds  as  a  sort  of  ornament,  or,  rather,  as  an 


1184.]          FAIR  ROSAMOND.  57 

The  construction  of  a  labyrinth.  Deceptive  paths. 

amusing  contrivance  to  interest  the  guests  com- 
ing to  visit  the  proprietor.  It  was  called  a  lab- 
yrinth. A  great  many  plans  of  labyrinths  are 
found  delineated  in  ancient  books.  The  paths 
were  not  only  so  arranged  as  to  twist  and  turn 
in  every  imaginable  direction,  but  at  every  turn 
there  were  several  branches  made  so  precisely 
alike  that  there  was  nothing  to  distinguish  one 
from  the  other.  Of  course,  one  of  these  roads 
was  the  right  one,  and  led  to  the  centre  of  the 
labyrinth,  where  there  was  a  house,  or  a  pretty 
seat  with  a  view,  or  a  garden,  or  a  shady  bower, 
or  some  other  object  of  attraction,  to  reward 
those  who  should  succeed  in  getting  in.  The 
other  paths  led  nowhere,  or,  rather,  they  led  on 
through  various  devious  windings  in  all  respects 
similar  to  those  of  the  true  path,  until  at  length 
they  came  to  a  sudden  stop,  and  the  explorer 
was  obliged  to  return. 

The  paths  were  separated  from  each  other  by 
dense  hedges  of  thorn,  or  by  high  walls,  so  that 
it  was  impossible  to  pass  from  one  to  another 
except  by  walking  regularly  along. 

It  was  in  a  house,  entered  through  such  a  lab- 
yrinth as  this,  that  Rosamond  is  said  to  have 
lived,  on  the  grounds  of  the  palace  of  Wood- 
stock, while  Queen  Eleanora,  as  the  avowed 


58  KING   EICHABD  I.          [1184. 

How  Rosamond's  concealment  was  discovered  by  the  queen. 

wife  and  queen  of  King  Henry,  occupied  the 
palace  itself.  Of  course,  the  fact  that  such  a 
lady  was  hidden  on  the  grounds  was  kept  a 
profound  secret  from  the  queen.  If  this  story 
is  true,  there  were  probably  other  labyrinths  on 
the  grounds,  and  this  one  was  so  surrounded 
with  trees  and  hedges,  which  connected  it  by 
insensible  gradations  with  the  groves  and  thiok- 
ets  of  the  park,  that  there  was  nothing  to  attract 
attention  to  it  particularly,  and  thus  a  lady 
might  have  remained  concealed  in  it  for  some 
time  without  awakening  suspicion. 

At  any  rate,  Rosamond  did  remain,  it  is  sup- 
posed for  a  year  or  two,  concealed  thus,  until  at 
length  the  queen  discovered  the  secret.  The 
story  is  that  the  king  found  his  way  in  and  out 
the  labyrinth  by  means  of  a  clew  of  floss  silk, 
and  that  the  queen  one  day,  when  riding  \rith 
the  king  in  the  park,  observed  this  clew,  a  part 
of  which  had,  in  some  way  or  other,  become  at- 
tached to  his  spur.  She  said  nothing,  but, 
watching  a  private  opportunity,  she  followed  the 
clew.  It  led  by  a  very  intricate  path  into  the 
heart  of  the  labyrinth.  There  the  queen  found 
a  curiously-contrived  door.  The  door  was  al- 
most wholly  concealed  from  view,  but  the  queen 
discovered  it  and  opened  it.  She  found  that  it 


1184.]          FAIR  ROSAMOND.  59" 

The  subterranean  passage.  Uncertainties  of  the  story. 

led  into  a  subterranean  passage.  The  interest 
and  curiosity  of  the  queen  were  now  excited 
more  than  ever,  and  she  determined  that  the 
mystery  should  be  solved.  So  she  followed 
the  passage,  and  was  finally  led  by  it  to  a  place 
beyond  the  wall  of  the  grounds,  where  there  was 
a  house  in  a  very  secluded  spot  surrounded  by 
thickets.  Here  the  queen  found  Rosamond  sit- 
ting in  a  bower,  and  engaged  in  embroidering. 
She  was  now  in  a  great  rage  both  against 
Rosamond  and  against  her  husband.  It  was 
generally  said  that  she  poisoned  Rosamond. 
The  story  was,  that  she  took  a  cup  of  poison 
with  her,  and  a  dagger,  and,  presenting  them 
both  to  Rosamond,  compelled  her  to  choose  be- 
tween them,  and  that  Rosamond  chose  the  poi- 
son, and,  drinking  it,  died.  This  story,  how- 
ever, was  not  true,  for  it  is  now  known  that 
Rosamond  lived  many  years  after  this  time, 
though  she  was  separated  from  the  king.  It  is 
thought  that  her  connection  with  the  king  con- 
tinued for  about  two  years  after  his  marriage 
with  Eleanora.  She  then  left  him.  It  may  be 
that  she  did  not  know  before  that  time  that  the 
king  was  married.  She  may  have  supposed 
that  she  was  herself  his  lawful  wife,  as,  indeed, 
it  is  possible  that  she  may  actually  have  been 


€0  KING   KICHARD   I.          [1184. 

Rosamond  retires  to  the  convent  of  Godestow. 

so.  At  any  rate,  soon  after  she  and  Eleanora 
became  acquainted  with  each  other's  existence, 
Rosamond  retired  to  a  convent,  and  lived  there 
in  complete  seclusion  all  the  rest  of  her  days. 

The  name  of  this  convent  was  Godestow.  It 
was  situated  near  Oxford.  Rosamond  became 
a  great  favorite  with  the  nuns  while  she  re- 
mained at  the  convent,  which  was  nearly  twenty 
years.  During  this  time  the  king  made  many 
donations  to  the  convent  for  Rosamond's  sake, 
and  the  jealousy  of  the  queen  against  her  beau- 
tiful rival,  of  course,  continued  unabated.  It 
was,  indeed,  this  difficulty  in  respect  to  Rosa- 
mond that  was  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  the 
domestic  trouble  which  always  existed  between 
Henry  and  the  queen.  The  world  at  large 
have  always  been  most  disposed  to  sympathize 
with  Rosamond  in  this  quarrel.  She  was  near- 
ly of  the  king's  own  age,  and  his  attachment 
to  her  arose,  doubtless,  from  sincere  affection ; 
whereas  the  queen  was  greatly  his  senior,  and 
had  inveigled  him,  as  it  were,  into  a  marriage 
with  her,  through  motives  of  the  most  calcula- 
ting and  mercenary  character. 

Then,  moreover,  Rosamond  either  was,  or 
was  supposed  to  be,  a  lady  of  great  gentleness 
and  loveliness  of  spirit.  She  was  very  kind  to 


1184.]  FAIR  EOSAMOND.  61 

The  world's  sympathy  with  Rosamond  rather  than  with  Kleanora. 

the  poor,  and  while  in  the  convent  she  was  very 
assiduously  devoted  to  her  religious  duties. 
Eleanora,  on  the  other  hand,  was  a  very  unprin- 
cipled and  heartless  woman,  and  she  had  been 
so  loose  and  free  in  her  own  manner  of  living 
too,  as  every  body  said  and  believed,  that  it  was 
with  a  very  ill  grace  that  she  could  find  any 
fault  with  her  husband. 

Thus,  under  the  circumstances  of  the  case, 
the  world  has  always  been  most  inclined  to 
sympathize  with  Rosamond  rather  than  with  the 
queen.  The  question  which  we  ought  to  sym- 
pathize with  depends  upon  which  was  really  the 
wife  of  Henry.  He  may  have  been  truly  mar- 
ried to  Rosamond,  or  at  least  some  ceremony 
may  have  been  performed  which  she  honestly 
considered  as  a  marriage.  If  so,  she  was  inno- 
cent, and  Henry  was  guilty  for  having  virtually 
repudiated  this  marriage  in  order  to  connect 
himself  with  Eleanora  for  the  sake  of  her  king- 
dom. On  the  other  hand,  if  she  were  not  mar- 
ried to  Henry,  but  used  her  arts  to  entice  him 
away  from  his  true  wife,  then  she  was  deeply 
in  fault.  It  is  very  difficult  now  to  ascertain 
which  of  these  suppositions  is  the  correct  one. 
In  either  case,  Henry  himself  was  guilty,  toward 
Ihe  one  or  the  other,  of  treacherously  violating 


62  KING   RICHARD   I.  [1184. 

The  question  of  the  validity  of  the  marriage. 


his  marriage  vows — the  most  solemn  vows,  in 
some  respects,  that  a  man  can  ever  assume. 

Rosamond  had  two  children,  named  William 
and  Geoffrey,  and  at  one  time  in  the  course  of 
his  life  Henry  seemed  to  acknowledge  that  they 
were  his  only  two  children,  thus  admitting  the 
Talidity  of  his  marriage  with  Rosamond.  This 
admission  was  contained  in  an  expression  which 
he  used  in  addressing  William  on  a  field  of  bat- 
tle when  he  came  toward  him  at  the  head  of 
his  troop.  "William,"  said  he,  "you  are  my 
true  and  legitimate  son.  The  rest  are  nobod- 
ies." He  may,  it  is  true,  have  only  intended 
to  speak  figuratively  in  saying  this,  meaning 
that  William  was  the  only  one  worthy  to  be 
considered  as  his  son,  or  it  may  be  that  it  was 
an  inadvertent  and  hasty  acknowledgment  that 
Rosamond,  and  not  Eleanora,  was  his  true  wife. 
As  time  rolled  on,  however,  and  the  political 
arrangements  arising  out  of  the  marriage  with 
Eleanora  and  appointment  of  her  sons  to  high 
positions  in  the  state  became  more  and  more 
extended,  the  difficulties  which  the  invalidation 
of  the  marriage  with  Eleanora  would  produce 
became  very  great,  and  immense  interests  were 
involved  in  sustaining  it.  Rosamond's  rights, 
therefore,  if  she  had  any,  were  wholly  overborne,. 


1184.]          FAIR  ROSAMOND.  63 

Burial  of  Rosamond.        The  bishop  orders  the  remains  to  be  removed. 

and  she  was  allowed  to  linger  and  die  in  her 
nunnery  as  a  private  person. 

When  at  length  she  died,  the  nuns,  who  had 
become  greatly  attached  to  her,  caused  her  to  be 
interred  in  an  honorable  manner  in  the  chapel, 
but  afterward  the  bishop  of  the  diocese  ordered 
the  remains  to  be  removed.  He  considered 
Rosamond  as  having  never  been  married  to  the 
king,  and  he  said  that  she  was  not  a  proper  per- 
son to  be  the  subject  of  monumental  honors  in 
the  chapel  of  a  society  of  nuns  ;  so  he  sent  the 
remains  away,  and  ordered  them  to  be  interred 
in  the  common  burying-ground.  If  Rosamond 
was  what  he  supposed  her  to  be,  and  if  he  re- 
moved the  remains  in  a  proper  and  respectful 
manner,  he  was  right  in  doing  what  he  did. 
His  motive  may  have  been,  however,  merely  a 
desire  to  please  the  authorities  of  his  time,  who 
represented,  of  course,  the  heirs  of  Eleanora,  by 
sealing  the  stamp  of  condemnation  on  the  char- 
acter and  position  of  her  rival. 

But,  though  the  authorities  may  have  been 
pleased  with  the  bishop's  procedure,  the  nuns 
were  not  at  all  satisfied  with  it.  They  not  only 
felt  a  strong  personal  affection  for  Rosamond, 
but,  as  a  sisterhood,  they  felt  grateful  to  her 
memory  on  account  of  the  many  benefactions 


64 


KING   RICHARD   I. 


[1184. 


The  nuns  bring  back  the  remains  to  the  chapel  again. 

which  the  convent  had  received  from  Henry  on 
account  of  her  residence  there.  So  they  seized 
the  first  opportunity  to  take  up  the  remains 
again,  which  consisted  now  of  dry  bones  alone, 
and,  after  perfuming  them  and  inclosing  them 
again  in  a  new  coffin,  they  deposited  them  once 
more  under  the  pavement  of  the  chapel,  and 


*~:UAI,    OF    itobAMOM). 


1184.]          FAIR  ROSAMOND.  65 

Rosamond's  chamber.  Restoration  of  the  house. 

laid  a  slab,  with  a  suitable  inscription,  over  the 
spot  to  mark  the  place  of  the  grave. 

The  house  where  Rosamond  was  concealed 
at  Woodstock  was  regarded  afterward  with  great 
interest,  and  there  was  a  chamber  in  it  that  was 
for  a  long  time  known  as  Rosamond's  Cham- 
ber. There  remains  a  letter  of  one  of  the  kings 
of  England,  written  about  a  hundred  years  aft- 
er this  time,  in  which  the  king  gives  directions 
to  have  this  house  repaired,  and  particularly  to 
have  the  chamber  restored  to  a  perfect  condition. 
His  orders  are,  that  "  the  house  beyond  the  gate 
in  the  new  wall  be  built  again,  and  that  same 
chamber,  called  Rosamond's  Chamber,  be  re- 
stored as  before,  and  crystal  plates" — that  is, 
glass  for  the  windows — "  and  marble,  and  lead 
be  provided  for  it." 

From  that  day  to  this  the  story  of  Rosamond 
has  been  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing incidents  of  English  history. 
7—5 


KING  RICHARD   I.          [1189. 


The  reverses  of  King  Henry. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ACCESSION   OF  RICHARD   TO   THE 
THRONE. 

ICHARD  was  called  to  the  throne  when  he 
was  about  thirty-two  years  of  age  by  the 
sudden  and  unexpected  death  of  his  father. 
The  death  of  his  father  took  place  under  the 
most  mournful  circumstances  imaginable.  In 
the  war  which  Richard  and  Philip,  king  of 
France,  had  waged  against  him,  he  had  been 
unsuccessful.  He  had  been  defeated  in  the 
battles  and  outgeneraled  in  the  manoeuvres, 
and  his  barons,  one  after  another,  had  aban- 
doned him  and  taken  part  with  the  rebels. 
King  Henry  was  an  extremely  passionate  man, 
and  the  success  of  his  enemies  against  him  filled 
him  with  rage.  This  rage  was  rendered  all  the 
more  violent  by  the  thought  that  it  was  through 
the  unnatural  ingratitude  of  his  own  son,  Rich- 
ard, that  all  these  calamities  came  upon  him. 
In  the  anguish  of  his  despair,  he  cursed  the  day 
of  his  birth,  and  uttered  dreadful  maledictions 
-against  his  children. 


1189.]  ACCESSION  OF  RICHARD.          67 

Negotiating  a  peace.          The  thunder-storm.      Henry's  horsemanship. 

At  length  he  was  reduced  to  such  an  extrem- 
ity that  he  was  obliged  to  submit  to  negotisv. 
tions  for  peace,  on  just  such  terms  as  his  ene- 
mies thought  fit  to  impose.  They  made  very- 
hard  conditions.  The  first  attempt  at  negotia- 
ting the  peace  was  made  in  an  open  field,  where 
Philip  and  Henry  met  for  the  purpose,  on  horse- 
back, attended  by  their  retainers.  Richard  had 
the  grace  to  keep  away  from  this  meeting,  so  as 
not  to  be  an  actual  witness  of  the  humiliation 
of  his  father,  and  so  Philip  and  Henry  were  to 
conduct  the  conference  by  themselves. 

The  meeting  was  interrupted  by  a  thunder- 
storm. At  first  the  two  kings  did  not  intend 
to  pay  any  heed  to  the  storm,  but  to  go  on  with 
their  discussions  without  regarding  it.  Henry 
was  a  very  great  horseman,  and  spent  almost 
his  whole  life  in  riding.  One  of  his  historians 
says  that  he  never  sat  down  except  upon  a  sad- 
dle, unless  it  was  when  he  was  taking  his  meals. 
At  any  rate,  he  was  almost  always  on  horse- 
back. He  hunted  on  horseback,  he  fought  on 
horseback,  he  traveled  on  horseback,  and  now  he 
was  holding  a  conference  with  his  enemies  on 
horseback,  in  the  midst  of  a  storm  of  lightning 
and  rain.  But  his  health  had  now  become  im- 
paired, and  his  nerves,  though  they  had  always 


68  KING  RICHARD   I.          [1189. 

The  hard  conditions  of  peace  imposed  by  Philip  and  Richard. 

seemed  to  be  of  iron,  were  beginning  to  give 
way  under  the  dreadful  shocks  to  which  they 
had  been  exposed,  so  that  he  was  now  far  less 
able  to  endure  such  exposures  than  he  had  been. 
At  length  a  clap  of  thunder  broke  rattling  im- 
mediately over  his  head,  and  the  bolt  seemed 
to  descend  directly  between  him  and  Philip  as 
they  sat  upon  their  horses  in  the  field.  Henry 
reeled  in  the  saddle,  and  would  have  fallen  if 
his  attendants  had  not  seized  and  held  him. 
They  found  that  he  was  too  weak  and  ill  to  re- 
main any  longer  on  the  spot,  and  so  they  bore 
him  away  to  his  quarters,  and  then  Philip  and 
Richard  sent  him  in  writing  the  conditions 
which  they  were  going  to  exact  from  him.  The 
conditions  were  very  humiliating  indeed.  They 
stripped  him  of  a  great  portion  of  his  posses- 
sions, and  required  him  to  hold  others  in  sub- 
ordination to  Philip  and  to  Richard.  Finally, 
the  last  of  the  conditions  was,  that  he  was  to 
give  Richard  the  kiss  of  peace,  and  to  banish 
from  his  heart  all  sentiments  of  animosity  and 
anger  against  him. 

Among  other  articles  of  the  treaty  was  one 
binding  him  to  pardon  all  the  barons  and  other 
chief  men  who  had  gone  over  to  Richard's  side 
in  the  rebellion.  As  they  read  the  articles 


1189.J    ACCESSION  OF  EICHARD.         69 

The  sick  king.  His  distress  at  the  conduct  of  John. 

over  to  the  king,  while  he  was  lying  sick  upon 
his  bed,  he  asked,  when  they  came  to  this  one, 
to  see  the  list  of  the  names,  that  he  might  know 
who  they  were  that  had  thus  forsaken  him. 
The  name  at  the  head  of  the  list  was  that  of  his 
son  John — his  darling  son  John,  to  defend  whose 
rights  against  the  aggressions  of  Richard  had 
been  one  of  his  chief  motives  in  carrying  on 
the  war.  The  wretched  father,  on  seeing  this 
name,  started  up  from  his  bed  and  gazed  wildly 
around. 

"Is  it  possible,"  he  cried  out,  "that  John, 
the  child  of  my  heart — he  whom  I  have  cher- 
ished more  than  all  the  rest,  and  for  love  of 
whom  I  have  drawn  down  on  mine  own  head 
all  these  troubles,  has  verily  betrayed  me?" 
They  told  him  that  it  was  even  so. 

"Then,"  said  he,  falling  back  helplessly  on 
his  bed,  "  then  let  every  thing  go  as  it  will ; 
I  care  no  longer  for  myself  or  for  any  thing  else 
in  this  world." 

All  this  took  place  in  Normandy,  for  it  was 
Normandy  that  had  been  the  chief  scene  of  the 
war  between  the  king  and  his  son.  At  some 
little  distance  from  the  place  where  the  king 
was  now  lying  sick  there  was  a  beautiful  rural 
palace,  at  a  place  called  Chinon,  which  was  sit- 


70  KING  RICHARD   I.          [1189. 

The  palace  at  Cbinon.  The  imprecations  of  the  dying  king. 

uated  very  pleasantly  on  the  banks  of  a  small 
branch  of  the  Loire.  This  palace  was  one  of 
the  principal  summer  resorts  of  the  dukes  of 
Normandy,  and  the  king  caused  himself  now  to 
be  carried  there,  in  order  to  seek  repose.  But 
instead  of  being  cheered  by  the  beautiful  scenes 
that  were  around  him  at  Chinon,  or  reinvigor- 
ated  by  the  comforts  and  the  attentions  which 
he  could  there  enjoy,  he  gradually  sank  into 
hopeless  melancholy,  and  in  a  few  days  he  began 
to  feel  that  he  was  about  to  die.  As  he  grew 
worse  his  mind  became  more  and  more  excited, 
and  his  attendants  from  time  to  time  heard  him. 
moaning,  in  his  anguish,  "Oh,  shame!  shame  1 
I  am  a  conquered  king — a  conquered  king! 
Cursed  be  the  day  on  which  I  was  born,  and 
cursed  be  the  children  that  I  leave  behind  me!" 
The  priests  at  his  bedside  endeavored  to  re- 
monstrate with  him  against  these  imprecations. 
They  told  him  that  it  was  a  dreadful  thing  for 
a  father  to  curse  his  own  children,  and  they 
urged  him  to  retract  what  he  had  said.  But  he 
declared  that  he  would  not.  He  persisted  in 
cursing  all  his  children  except  Geoffrey  Clifford, 
the  son  of  Rosamond,  who  was  then  at  his  bed- 
side, and  who  had  never  forsaken  him.  The 
king  grew  continually  more  and  more  excited 


1189.]    ACCESSION  OF  RICHARD.         71 

The  heartless  conduct  of  the  courtiers  of  the  dead  king. 


and  disordered  in  mind,  until  at  length  he  sank 
into  a  raving  delirium,  and  in  that  state  he  died. 
A  dead  king  is  a  very  helpless  and  insignif- 
icant object,  whatever  may  have  been  the  terror 
which  he  inspired  while  he  was  alive.  As  long 
as  Henry  continued  to  breathe,  the  attendants 
around  him  paid  him  great  deference,  and  ob- 
served every  possible  form  of  obsequious  re- 
spect, for  they  did  not  know  but  that  he  might 
recover,  to  live  and  reign,  and  lord  it  over  them 
and  their  fortunes  for  fifteen  or  twenty  years  to 
come ;  but  as  soon  as  the  breath  was  out  of 
his  body,  all  was  over.  Richard,  his  son,  was 
now  king,  and  from  Henry  nothing  whatever 
was  any  longer  to  be  hoped  or  feared.  So  the 
mercenary  and  heartless  courtiers — the  minis- 
ters, priests,  bishops  and  barons — began  at  once 
to  strip  the  body  of  all  the  valuables  which  the 
king  had  worn,  and  also  to  seize  and  appropri- 
ate every  thing  in  the  apartments  of  the  palace 
which  they  could  take  away.  These  things 
were  their  perquisites,  they  said ;  it  being  cus- 
tomary, as  they  alleged,  that  the  personal  effects 
of  a  deceased  king  should  be  divided  among 
those  who  were  his  attendants  when  he  died. 
Having  secured  this  plunder,  these  people  dis- 
appeared, and  it  was  with  the  utmost  difficulty 


72  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1189. 

Richard  following  the  funeral  train  to  the  Abbey  Fontevraud. 

that  assistance  enough  could  be  procured  to- 
wrap  the  body  in  a  winding-sheet,  and  to  bring 
a  hearse  and  horses  to  bear  it  away  to  the 
abbey  where  it  was  to  be  interred.  Examples 
like  this — of  which  the  history  of  every  mon- 
archy is  full — throw  a  great  deal  of  light  upon 
what  is  called  the  principle  of  loyalty  in  the 
hearts  of  those  who  attend  upon  kings. 

While  the  procession  was  on  the  way  to  the 
abbey  where  the  body  was  to  be  buried,  it  was 
met  by  Richard,  who,  having  heard  of  his  fa- 
ther's death,  came  to  join  in  the  funeral  solem- 
nities. Richard  followed  the  train  until  thejr 
arrived  at  the  abbey.  It  was  the  Abbey  Font- 
evraud, the  ancient  burial-place  of  the  Norman 
princes.  Arrived  at  the  abbey,  the  body  was 
laid  out  upon  the  bier,  and  the  face  was  uncov- 
ered, in  order  that  Richard  might  once  more 
look  upon  his  father's  features ;  but  the  coun- 
tenance was  so  distorted  with  the  scowling  ex- 
pression of  rage  and  resentment  which  it  had 
worn  during  the  sufferer's  last  hours,  that  Rich- 
ard turned  away  in  horror  from  the  dreadful 
spectacle. 

But  Richard  soon  drove  away  from  his  mind 
the  painful  thoughts  which  the  sight  of  his  fa- 
ther's face  must  have  awakened,  and  turned  his- 


1189.]    ACCESSION  OF  RICHARD.         73 

Richard  immediately  secures  the  succession  to  the  throne. 

attention  at  once  to  the  business  which  now- 
pressed  upon  him.  He,  of  course,  was  heir  both 
to  the  crown  of  England  and  also  to  all  his  fa- 
ther's possessions  in  Normandy,  and  he  felt  that 
he  must  act  prcmptly,  in  order  to  secure  his 
rights.  It  is  true  that  there  was  nobody  to  dis- 
pute his  claim,  unless  it  was  his  brother  John, 
for  the  two  sons  of  Rosamond,  Geoffrey  and 
William  Clifford,  did  not  pretend  to  any  rights 
of  inheritance.  Richard  had  some  fears  of  John, 
and  he  thought  it  necessary  to  take  decisive 
measures  to  guard  against  any  plots  that  John 
might  be  disposed  to  form.  He  sent  at  once  to 
England,  and  ordered  that  his  mother  should  be 
released  from  her  imprisonment,  and  invested 
lier  with  power  to  act  as  regent  there  until  he 
should  come.  In  the  mean  time,  he  himself  re- 
mained in  Normandy,  and  devoted  himself  to  ar- 
ranging and  regulating  the  affairs  of  his  French 
possessions.  This  was  the  wisest  course  for 
him  to  pursue,  for  there  was  no  one  in  England 
to  dispute  his  claims  to  that  kingdom.  On  the 
Continent  the  case  was  different.  His  neigh- 
bor, Philip,  King  of  France,  was  ready  to  take 
advantage  of  any  opportunity  to  get  possession 
of  such  provinces  on  the  Continent  as  might  be 
within  his  reach. 


74  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1189. 

Sorrow  often  results  in  happiness.  Eleanora  queen  regent. 

It  was  certainly  a  good  deed  in  Richard  to 
liberate  his  mother  from  her  captivity,  and  to- 
exalt  her  as  he  did  to  a  position  of  responsi- 
bility and  honor.  Eleanora  fulfilled  the  trust 
which  he  reposed  in  her  in  a  very  faithful  and 
successful  manner.  The  long  period  of  con- 
finement and  suffering  which  she  had  endured 
seems  to  have  exerted  a  very  favorable  influ- 
ence upon  her  mind.  Indeed,  it  is  very  often 
the  case  that  sorrow  and  trouble  have  this  ef- 
fect. A  life  of  prosperity  and  pleasure  make& 
us  heartless,  selfish,  and  unfeeling,  while  sor- 
row softens  the  heart,  and  disposes  us  to  com- 
passionate the  woes  of  others,  and  to  do  what 
we  can  to  relieve  them. 

Eleanora  was  queen  regent  in  England  for 
two  months,  and  during  that  time  she  employ- 
ed her  power  in  a  very  beneficent  manner.  She 
released  many  unhappy  prisoners,  and  pardon- 
ed many  persons  who  had  been  convicted  of 
political  crimes.  The  truth  is  that  probably, 
as  she  found  herself  drawing  toward  the  close 
of  life,  and  looked  back  upon  her  past  career, 
and  remembered  her  many  crimes,  her  unfaith- 
fulness to  both  her  husbands,  and  especially 
her  unnatural  conduct  in  instigating  her  sons  to 
rebel  against  their  father,  her  heart  was  filled 


1189.]    ACCESSION  OF  KICHARD.         75 

Her  change  of  character.  Richard's  return  to  England. 

with  remorse,  and  she  found  some  relief  from 
her  anguish  in  these  tardy  efforts  to  relieve  suf- 
fering which  might,  in  some  small  degree,  re- 
pair the  evils  that  she  had  brought  upon  the 
land  by  the  insurrections  and  wars  of  which  she 
had  been  the  cause.  She  bitterly  repented  of 
the  hostility  that  she  had  shown  toward  her 
husband,  and  of  the  countless  wrongs  that  she 
had  inflicted  upon  him.  While  he  was  alive, 
and  she  was  engaged  in  her  contests  with  him, 
the  excitement  that  she  was  under  blinded  her 
mind ;  but  now  that  he  was  dead,  her  passion 
subsided,  and  she  mourned  for  him  with  bitter 
grief.  She  distributed  alms  in  a  very  abundant 
manner  to  the  poor  to  induce  them  to  pray  for 
the  repose  of  his  soul.  While  doing  these 
things  she  did  not  neglect  the  affairs  of  state. 
She  made  all  the  necessary  arrangements  for 
the  immediate  administration  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  she  sent  word  to  all  the  barons,  and 
also  to  the  bishops,  and  other  great  public  func- 
tionaries, informing  them  that  Richard  was  com- 
ing to  assume  the  government  of  the  realm,  and 
summoning  them  to  assemble  and  make  ready 
to  receive  him.  In  about  two  months  Richard 
came. 

Before  Richard  arrived  in  England,  however, 


76  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1189. 

Richard's  proposed  crusade.  John's  dissimulation. 

he  had  formed  the  plan,  in  connection  with  Phil- 
ip, the  King  of  France,  of  going  on  a  crusade. 
Richard  was  a  wild  and  desperate  man,  and  he 
loved  fighting  for  its  own  sake ;  and  inasmuch 
as  now,  since  his  father  was  dead,  and  his  claim 
to  the  crown  of  England,  and  to  all  his  pos- 
sessions in  Normandy,  was  undisputed,  there 
seemed  to  be  nobody  for  him  to  right  at  home, 
he  conceived  the  design  of  organizing  a  grand 
expedition  to  go  to  the  Holy  Land  and  fight 
the  Saracens. 

John  was  very  much  pleased  with  this  idea. 
"If  Richard  goes  to  Palestine,"  said  he  to  him- 
self, "  ten  to  one  he  will  get  killed,  and  then  I 
shall  be  King  of  England." 

So  John  was  ready  to  do  every  thing  in  his 
power  to  favor  the  plan  of  the  crusade.  He 
pretended  to  be  very  submissive  and  obedient 
to  his  brother,  and  to  acknowledge  his  sov- 
ereign power  as  king.  He  aided  the  king  as 
much  as  he  could  in  making  his  arrangements 
and  in  concocting  all  his  plans. 

The  first  thing  was  to  provide  funds.  A 
great  deal  of  money  was  required  for  these 
expeditions.  Ships  were  to  be  bought  and 
equipped  for  the  purpose  of  transporting  the 
troops  to  the  East.  Arms  and  ammunition 


1189.]     ACCESSION  OF  EICHARD.         77 

A  delusion.  The  treasures  of  the  crown. 

were  to  be  provided,  and  large  supplies  of  food. 
Then  the  princes,  and  barons,  and  knights  who 
were  to  accompany  the  expedition  required  very 
expensive  armor,  and  costly  trappings  and 
equipments  of  all  sorts ;  for,  though  the  pretense 
was  that  they  were  going  out  to  fight  for  the 
recovery  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  under  the  in- 
fluence of  religious  zeal,  the  real  motive  which 
animated  them  was  love  of  glory  and  display. 
Thus  it  happened  that  the  expense  which  a 
sovereign  incurred  in  fitting  out  a  crusade  was 
enormous. 

Accordingly,  King  Richard,  immediately  on 
his  arrival  in  England,  proceeded  at  once  to 
Winchester,  where  his  father,  King  Henry,  had 
kept  his  treasures.  Richard  found  a  large  sum 
of  money  there  in  gold  and  silver  coin,  and  be- 
sides this  there  were  stores  of  plate,  of  jewelry, 
and  of  precious  gems  of  great  value.  Richard 
caused  all  the  money  to  be  counted  in  his  pres- 
ence, and  an  exact  inventory  to  be  made  of  all 
the  treasures.  He  then  placed  the  whole  under 
the  charge  of  trusty  officers  of  his  own,  whom 
he  appointed  to  take  care  of  them. 

The  next  thing  that  Richard  did  was  to  dis- 
card and  dismiss  all  his  own  former  friends  and 
adherents — the  men  who  had  taken  part  with 


78  KING  RICHABD   I.          [1189. 

Circumstances  alter  cases.  Accomplices  ill  rewarded. 

him  in  his  rebellions  against  his  father.  "Men 
that  would  join  me  in  rebelling  against  my  fa- 
ther," thought  he  to  himself,  "  would  join  any 
body  else,  if  they  thought  they  could  gain  by 
it,  in  rebelling  against  me."  So  he  concluded 
that  they  were  not  to  be  trusted.  Indeed  now, 
in  the  altered  circumstances  in  which  he  was 
placed,  he  could  see  the  guilt  of  rebellion  and 
treason,  though  he  had  been  blind  to  it  before, 
and  he  actually  persecuted  and  punished  some 
of  those  who  had  been  his  confederates  in  his 
former  crimes.  A  great  many  cases  analogous 
to  this  have  occurred  in  English  history.  Sons 
have  often  made  themselves  the  centre  and  soul 
of  all  the  opposition  in  the  realm  against  their 
father's  government,  and  have  given  their  fa- 
thers a  great  deal  of  trouble  by  so  doing ;  but 
then,  in  all  such  cases,  the  moment  that  the  fa- 
ther dies  the  son  immediately  places  himself  at 
the  head  of  the  regularly-constituted  authorities 
-of  the  realm,  and  abandons  all  his  old  compan- 
ions and  friends,  treating  them  sometimes  with 
great  severity.  His  eyes  are  opened  to  the 
wickedness  of  making  opposition  to  the  sov- 
ereign power  now  that  the  sovereign  power  is 
vested  in  himself,  and  he  disgraces  and  punish- 
es his  own  former  friends  for  the  crime  of  har- 
ing  aided  him  in  his  undntiful  behavior. 


1189.]         THE   CORONATION.  79- 

The  massacre  of  the  Jews.  Their  social  position. 


CHAPTER  V. 
THE   CORONATION. 

IT  was  now  time  that  the  coronation  should! 
take  place,  and  arrangements  were  accord- 
ingly made  for  performing  this  ceremony  with, 
great  magnificence  in  Westminster  Abbey. 
The  day  of  the  ceremony  acquired  a  dreadful 
celebrity  in  history  in  consequence  of  a  great 
massacre  of  the  Jews,  which  resulted  from  an 
insurrection  and  riot  that  broke  out  in  Westmin- 
ster and  London  immediately  after  the  crown- 
ing of  the  king.  The  Jews  had  been  hated  and 
abhorred  by  all  the  Christian  nations  of  Europe 
for  many  ages.  Since  they  were  not  believers 
in  Christianity,  they  were  considered  as  little 
better  than  infidels  and  heathen,  and  the  gov- 
ernment that  oppressed  and  persecuted  them 
the  most  was  considered  as  doing  the  greatest 
service  to  the  cause  of  religion. 

One  very  curious  result  followed  from  the 
legal  disabilities  that  the  Jews  were  under. 
They  could  not  own  land,  and  they  were  re- 


80  KING   RICHARD  I.          [1189. 


The  history  of  the  commercial  character  of  the  Jews. 


stricted  also  very  much  in  respect  to  nearly  all 
the  avocations  open  to"  other  men.  They  con- 
sequently learned  gradually  to  become  dealers 
in  money  and  in  jewels,  this  being  almost  the 
only  reputable  calling  that  was  left  open  to  them. 
There  was  another  great  advantage,  too,  for 
them,  in  dealing  in  property  of  this  kind,  and 
that  was,  that  comprising,  as  such  property 
does,  great  value  in  small  bulk,  it  could  easily 
be  concealed,  and  removed  from  place  to  place 
whenever  it  was  specially  endangered  by  the 
edicts  of  governments  or  the  hostility  of  ene- 
mies. 

From  these  and  similar  reasons  the  Jews  be- 
came bankers  and  money-lenders,  and  they  are 
to  this  day  the  richest  bankers  and  the  greatest 
money-lenders  in  the  world.  The  most  power- 
ful emperors  and  kings  often  depend  upon  them 
for  the  supplies  that  they  require  to  carry  on 
their  great  undertakings  or  to  defray  the  ex- 
penses of  their  wars. 

The  Jews  had  gradually  increased  in  num- 
bers and  influence  in  France  until  the  time  of 
the  accession  of  Philip,  and  then  he  determined 
to  extirpate  them  from  the  realm  ;  so  he  issued 
an  edict  by  which  they  were  all  banished  from 
the  kingdom,  their  property  was  confiscated, 


1189.]         THE  CORONATION.  81 

The  persecution  of  the  Jews  in  France.  Conciliating  the  king. 

and  every  person  that  owed  them  money  was 
released  from  all  obligation  to  pay  them.  Of 
•course,  a  great  many  of  their  debtors  would  pay 
them,  notwithstanding  this  release,  from  the  in- 
fluence of  that  natural  sense  of  justice  which, 
in  all  nations  and  in  all  ages,  has  a  very  great 
control  in  human  hearts ;  still,  there  were  others 
who  would,  of  course,  avail  themselves  of  this 
opportunity  to  defraud  their  creditors  of  what 
was  justly  their  due;  and  being  obliged,  too, 
at  the  same  time,  to  fly  precipitately  from  the 
country  in  consequence  of  the  decree  of  banish- 
ment, the  poor  Jews  were  reduced  to  a  state  of 
extreme  distress. 

Now  the  Jews  of  England,  when  Henry  died 
and  Kichard  succeeded  him,  began  to  be  afraid 
that  the  new  king  would  follow  Philip's  exam- 
ple, and  in  order  to  prevent  this,  and  to  concil- 
iate Richard's  favor,  they  determined  to  send  a 
delegation  to  him  at  Westminster,  at  the  time 
•of  his  coronation,  with  rich  presents  which  had 
been  procured  by  contributions  made  by  the 
wealthy.  Accordingly,  on  the  day  of  the  coro- 
nation, when  the  great  crowds  of  people  assem- 
bled at  Westminster  to  honor  the  occasion, 
these  Jews  came  among  them. 

The  ceremony  of  the  coronation  was  per- 
7—6 


82  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1189. 

A  description  of  the  ceremony  of  coronation. 

formed  in  the  following  manner :  The  king,  in- 
entering  the  church  and  proceeding  up  toward 
the  high  altar,  walked  upon  a  rich  cloth  laid 
down  for  him,  which  had  been  dyed  with  the- 
famous  Tyrian  purple.  Over  his  head  was  a 
beautifully-wrought  canopy  of  silk,  supported 
by  four  long  lances.  These  lances  were  borne 
by  four  great  barons  of  the  realm.  A  great  no- 
bleman, the  Earl  of  Albemarle,  bore  the  crown,, 
and  walked  with  it  before  the  king  as  he  ad- 
vanced toward  the  altar.  When  the  earl  reach- 
ed the  altar  he  placed  the  crown  upon  it.  The 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  stood  before  the  altar 
to  receive  the  king  as  he  approached,  and  then 
idministered  the  usual  oath  to  him. 
The  oath  was  in  three  parts : 

1.  That  all  the  days  of  his  life  he  would  bear 
peace,  honor,  and  reverence  to  God  and  the 
Holy  Church,  and  to  all  the  ordinances  thereof. 

2.  That  he  would  exercise  right,  justice,  and/ 
law  on  the  people  unto  him  committed. 

3.  That  he  would  abrogate  wicked  laws  and 
perverse  customs,  if  any  such  should  be  brought 
into  his  kingdom,  and  that  he  would  enact  good 
laws,  and  the  same  in  good  faith  keep,  without 
mental  reservation. 

Having  taken  this  oath,  the  king  removed 


1189.]         THE   CORONATION.  83 

The  ampnlla.  The  coronation.  Presents. 

Lis  upper  garment,  and  put  golden  sandals  upon 
tis  feet,  and  then  was  anointed  by  the  arch- 
bishop with  the  holy  oil  on  his  head,  breast, 
and  shoulders.  This  oil  was  poured  from  a 
jich  vessel  called  an  ampulla.* 

The  anointing  having  been  performed,  the 
iing  received  various  articles  of  royal  dress  and 
•decoration  from  the  hands  of  the  great  nobles 
•around  him,  who  officiated  as  servitors  on  the 
occasion,  and  with  their  assistance  put  them  on. 
When  thus  robed  and  adorned,  he  advanced  up 
the  steps  of  the  altar.  As  he  went  up,  the 
•archbishop  adjured  him  in  the  name  of  the  liv- 
ing God  not  to  assume  the  crown  unless  he  was 
fully  resolved  to  keep  the  oaths  that  he  had 
.sworn.  Richard  again  solemnly  called  God  to . 
witness  that  he  would  faithfully  keep  them,  and 
then  advancing  to  the  altar,  he  took  the  crown 
and  put  it  into  the  hands  of  the  archbishop,  who 
then  placed  it  upon  his  head,  and  thus  the  cor- 
onation ceremony  was  completed. 

The  people  who  had  presents  for  the  king 
now   approached    and    offered   them    to    him. 

*  The  ampulla  used  now  for  anointing  the  English  sov- 
-ereigns  is  in  the  form  of  an  eagle.  It  is  made  of  the  purest 
•chased  gold,  and  weighs  about  ten  ounces.  It  is  deposited 
in  the  Tower  of  London. 


84  KING   RICHARD  I.          [1189. 

Hostility  and  jealousy  of  the  people. 

Among  them  came  the  Jews.  Their  presents 
were  very  rich  and  valuable,  and  the  king  re- 
ceived them  very  gladly,  although  in  announcing 
the  arrangements  for  the  ceremony  he  had  de- 
clared that  no  Jew  and  no  woman  was  to  be 
allowed  to  be  present.  Notwithstanding  this 
prohibition,  the  Jewish  deputation  had  come  in 
and  offered  their  presents  among  the  rest. 
There  was,  however,  a  great  murmuring  among 
the  crowd  in  respect  to  them,  and  a  great  de- 
sire to  drive  them  out.  This  crowd  consisted 
chiefly,  of  course,  of  barons,  earls,  knights,  and 
other  great  dignitaries  of  the  realm,  for  very  few 
of  the  lower  ranks  would  be  admitted  to  see  the 
ceremony ;  and  these  people,  in  addition  to  the 
usual  religious  prejudice  against  the  Jews,  had 
many  of  them  been  exasperated  against  the 
bankers  and  money-lenders  on  account  of  diffi- 
culties that  they  had  had  with  them  in  relation 
to  money  that  they  had  borrowed,  and  to  the 
high  interest  which  they  had  been  compelled  to- 
pay.  Some  wise  observer  of  the  working  of 
human  passions  has  said  that  men  always  hate 
more  or  less  those  to  whom  they  owe  money. 
This  is  a  reason  why  there  should  ordinarily  be 
very  few  pecuniary  transactions  between  friends. 
At  length,  as  one  of  the  Jews  who  was  out- 


1189.]         THE  CORONATION.  85 

An  altercation.  Hunting  out  the  Jews. 

side  was  attempting  to  go  in,  a  by-stander  at 
the  gate  cried  out,  "Here  comes  a  Jew!"  and 
struck  at  him.  This  excited  the  passions  of 
the  rest,  and  they  struck  and  pushed  the  poor 
Jew  in  order  to  drive  him  back ;  and  at  the 
same  time  a  general  outcry  against  the  Jews 
arose,  and  spread  into  the  interior  of  the  hall. 
The  people  there,  glad  of  the  opportunity  af- 
forded them  by  the  excitement,  began  to  as- 
sault the  Jews  and  drive  them  out ;  and  as 
they  came  out  at  the  door  beaten  and  bruised, 
a  rumor  was  raised  that  they  had  been  expelled 
by  the  king's  orders.  This  rumor,  as  it  spread 
through  the  streets,  was  soon  changed  into  a 
report  that  the  king  had  ordered  all  the  unbe- 
lievers to  be  destroyed ;  and  so,  whenever  a 
Jew  was  found  in  the  street,  a  riot  was  raised 
about  him,  he  was  assaulted  with  sticks  and 
stones,  cruelly  beaten,  and  if  he  was  not  killed, 
he  was  driven  to  seek  refuge  in  his  home,  wound- 
ed and  bleeding. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  news  that  the  king  had 
ordered  all  the  Jews  to  be  killed  spread  rapidly 
over  the  town,  and  in  the  evening  crowds  col- 
lected, and  after  murdering  all  the  Jews  that 
they  could  find  in  the  streets,  they  gathered 
round  their  houses,  and  finally  broke  into  them 


86  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1189. 

The  terrors  of  the  massacre.  Indifference  of  the  king. 

and  killed  the  inhabitants.  In  some  cases 
where  the  houses  were  strong,  the  Jews  barri- 
caded the  doors  and  the  mob  could  not  get  in. 
In  such  cases  they  brought  combustibles,  and 
piled  them  up  before  the  windows  and  doors, 
and  then,  setting  them  on  fire,  they  burned  the 
houses  to  the  ground,  and  men,  women,  and 
children  were  consumed  together  in  the  flames. 
If  any  of  the  unhappy  wretches  burning  in 
these  fires  attempted  to  escape  by  leaping  from 
the  windows,  the  mob  below  held  up  spears  and 
lances  for  them  to  fall  upon. 

There  were  so  many  of  these  fires  in  the 
course  of  the  night  that  the  whole  sky  was  il- 
luminated, and  at  one  time  there  was  danger 
that  the  flames  would  spread  so  as  to  produce 
a  general  conflagration.  Indeed,  as  the  night 
passed  on,  the  excitement  became  more  and 
more  violent,  until  at  length  the  streets,  in  all 
the  quarters  where  Jews  resided,  were  filled 
with  the  shouts  of  the  mob,  raving  in  demoni- 
acal phrenzy,  and  with  the  screams  of  the  ter- 
rified and  dying  sufferers,  and  the  crackling  of 
the  lurid  flames  in  which  they  were  burning. 

The  king,  in  the  mean  time,  was  carousing 
with  his  lords  and  barons  in  the  great  banquet- 
ing-hall  at  Westminster,  and  for  a  time  took 


1189.]          THE  CORONATION.  87 

The  mob  unchecked.  The  impunity  of  the  rioters. 

no  notice  of  these  disturbances.  He  seemed  to 
consider  them  as  of  very  little  moment.  At 
length,  however,  in  the  course  of  the  night,  he 
sent  an  officer  and  a  few  men  to  suppress  the 
riot,  ihit  it  was  too  late.  The  mob  paid  no 
heed  to  remonstrances  which  came  from  the 
leader  of  so  small  a  force,  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  threatened  to  kill  the  soldiers  too,  if  they 
did  not  go  away.  So  the  officer  returned  to 
the  king,  and  the  riot  went  on  undisturbed  un- 
til about  two  o'clock  of  the  next  day,  when  it 
gradually  ceased  from  the  mere  weariness  and 
exhaustion  of  the  people. 

A  few  of  the  men  who  had  been  engaged  in 
this  riot  were  afterward  brought  to  trial,  and 
three  were  hung,  not  for  murdering  Jews,  but 
for  burning  some  Christian  houses,  which,  either 
by  mistake  or  accident,  took  fire  in  the  confu- 
sion and  were  burned  with  the  rest.  This  was 
all  that  was  ever  done  to  punish  this  dreadful 
crime. 

In  justice  to  King  Richard,  however,  it  must 
be  stated  that  he  issued  an  edict  after  this  for- 
bidding that  the  Jews  should  be  injured  or  mal- 
treated any  more.  He  took  the  whole  people, 
he  said,  thenceforth  under  his  special  protec- 
tion, and  all  men  were  strictly  forbidden  to  harm 


88  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1189. 


King  Richard's  edict. 


them  personally,  or  to  molest  them  in  the  pos- 
session of  their  property. 

And  this  was  the  terrible  coronation  scene 
which  signalized  the  investiture  of  Richard  witt 
the  crown  and  the  royal  robes  of  England. 


1189.]  PREPARATIONS.  89 

Richard  was  thirty-two  years  of  age  at  his  accession. 


CHAPTER   VI. 
i 

PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  CRUSADE. 

AT  the  time  of  his  accession  to  the  throne, 
Richard,  as  has  already  been  remarked, 
was  about  thirty-two  years  of  age.  On  the  fol- 
lowing page  you  have  a  portrait  of  him,  with 
the  crown  upon  his  head. 

This  portrait  is  taken  from  a  sculpture  on 
his  tomb,  and  is  undoubtedly  a  good  repre- 
sentation of  him  as  he  appeared  when  he  was 
alive. 

The  first  thing  that  Richard  turned  his  at- 
tention to,  when  he  found  himself  securely  seat- 
ed on  his  throne,  was  the  preparation  for  a  cru- 
sade. It  had  been  the  height  of  his  ambition 
for  a  long  time  to  lead  a  crusade.  It  was  un- 
doubtedly through  the  influence  of  his  mother, 
and  of  her  early  conversations  with  him,  that  he 
imbibed  his  extraordinary  eagerness  to  seek  ad- 
ventures in  the  Holy  Land.  She  had  been  a 
crusader  herself  during  her  first  marriage,  as 
has  already  been  related  in  this  volume,  and 
she  had  undoubtedly,  in  Richard's  early  life, 


90  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1189. 

His  ardent  desires  for  distinction  in  cnisadea. 

entertained  him  with  a  thousand  stories  of  what 
she  had  seen,  and  of  the  romantic  adventures 
which  she  had  met  with  there.  These  stories, 


PORTRAIT   OF   RICHARD    I. 

and  the  various  conversations  which  arose  out 
of  them,  kindled  Richard's  youthful  imagination 
with  ardent  desires  to  go  and  distinguish  him- 
self on  the  same  field.  These  desires  had  been 


1189.]  PREPARATIONS.  91 

Motives  of  the  crusaders.  A  strange  delusion. 

greatly  increased  as  Richard  grew  up  to  man- 
hood by  observing  the  exalted  military  glory 
to  which  successful  crusaders  attained.  And 
then,  besides  this,  Richard  was  endued  with  a 
sort  of  reckless  and  lion-like  courage,  which  led 
him  to  look  upon  danger  as  a  sport,  and  made 
him  long  for  a  field  where  there  were  plenty  of 
enemies  to  fight,  and  enemies  so  abhorred  by 
the  whole  Christian  world  that  he  could  indulge 
in  the  excitement  of  hatred  and  rage  against 
them  without  any  restraint  whatever.  He 
could  there  satiate  himself,  too,  with  the  luxury 
of  killing  men  without  any  misgiving  of  con- 
science, or,  at  least,  without  any  condemnation 
on  the  part  of  his  fellow-men,  for  it  was  under- 
stood throughout  Christendom  that  the  crimes 
committed  against  the  Saracens  in  the  Holy 
Land  were  committed  in  the  name  of  Christ. 
What  a  strange  delusion !  To  think  of  honor- 
ing the  memory  of  the  meek  and  lowly  Jesus 
by  utterly  disregarding  his  peaceful  precepts 
and  his  loving  and  gentle  example,  and  going 
forth  in  thousands  to  the  work  of  murder,  rap- 
ine, and  devastation,  in  order  to  get  possession 
of  his  tomb. 

In  preparing  for  the  crusade,  the  first  and 


92  KING  RICHARD  I.         [1189. 

The  preparations.  Navies.  Armies.  Accoutrements. 

most  important  thing  to  be  attended  to,  in  Rich- 
ard's view,  was  the  raising  of  money.  A  great 
deal  of  money  would  be  required,  as  has  already- 
been  intimated,  to  fit  out  the  expedition  on  the 
magnificent  scale  which  Richard  intended.  There 
was  a  fleet  of  ships  to  be  built  and  equipped, 
and  stores  of  provisions  to  be  put  on  board. 
There  were  armies  to  be  levied  and  paid,  and 
immense  expenses  were  to  be  incurred  in  the 
manufacture  of  arms  and  ammunition.  The 
armor  and  the  arms  used  in  those  days,  espe- 
cially those  worn  by  knights  and  noblemen, 
and  the  caparisons  of  the  horses,  were  extreme- 
ly costly.  The  armor  was  fashioned  with  great 
labor  and  skill  out  of  plates  or  rings  of  steel, 
and  the  helmets,  and  the  bucklers,  and  the 
swords,  and  all  the  military  trappings  of  the 
horses  and  horsemen,  being  fashioned  altogeth- 
er by  hand,  required  great  labor  and  skill  in  the 
artisan  who  made  them  ;  and  then,  moreover,  it 
was  customary  to  decorate  them  very  profusely 
with  embroidery,  and  gold,  and  gems.  At  the 
present  day,  men  display  their  wealth  in  the 
costliness  of  their  houses,  and  the  gorgeousness 
and  luxury  of  the  furniture  which  they  con- 
tain. It  is  not  considered  in  good  taste — ex- 
cept for  ladies — to  make  a  display  of  wealth 


1189.]  PREPARATIONS.  93 

Customs  of  old  times.  Richard's  reckless  course. 

upon  the  person.  In  those  days,  however,  the 
reverse  was  the  case.  The  knights  and  barons 
lived  in  the  rudest  stone  castles,  dark  and  frown- 
ing without,  and  meagerly  furnished  and  com- 
fortless within,  while  all  the  means  of  display 
which  the  owners  possessed  were  lavished  in 
arming  and  decorating  themselves  and  their 
horses  magnificently  for  the  field  of  battle. 

For  all  these  things  Richard  knew  that  he 
should  require  a  large  sum  of  money,  and  he 
proceeded  at  once  to  carry  into  effect  the  most 
wasteful  and  reckless  measures  for  obtaining  it. 
His  father,  Henry  the  Second,  had  in  various 
ways  acquired  a  great  many  estates  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  kingdom,  which  estates  he  had 
added  to  the  royal  domains.  These  Richard 
at  once  proceeded  to  sell  to  whomsoever  would 
give  the  most  for  them.  In  this  manner  he  dis- 
posed of  a  great  number  of  castles,  fortresses, 
and  towns,  so  as  greatly  to  diminish  the  value 
of  the  crown  property.  The  purchasers  of  this 
property,  if  they  had  not  money  enough  of  their 
own  to  pay  for  what  they  bought,  would  bor- 
row of  the  Jews.  Some  of  the  king's  counsel- 
ors remonstrated  with  him  against  this  waste- 
ful policy,  but  he  replied  that  he  needed  money 
so  much  for  the  crusade,  that,  if  necessary,  he 


94  KING  RICHAKD  I.         [1189. 

Richard  sold  lands,  offices,  and  titles  of  honor. 

would  sell  the  city  of  London  itself  to  raise  itr 
if  he  could  only  find  a  man  rich  enough  to  be 
the  purchaser. 

After  having  raised  as  much  money  as  he 
could  by  the  sale  of  the  royal  lands,  the  next 
resource  to  which  Richard  turned  was  the  sale 
of  public  offices  and  titles  of  honor.  He  look- 
ed about  the  country  for  wealthy  men,  and  he 
offered  them  severally  high  office  on  condition 
of  their  paying  large  sums  of  money  into  the 
treasury  as  a  consideration  for  them.  He  sold 
titles  of  nobility,  too,  in  the  same  way.  If  any 
man  who  was  not  rich  held  a  high  or  important 
office,  he  would  find  some  pretext  for  removing 
him,  and  then  would  offer  the  office  for  sale. 
One  of  the  historians  of  those  times  says  that 
at  this  period  Richard's  presence-chamber  be- 
came a  regular  place  of  trade — like  the  count- 
ing-room of  a  merchant  or  an  exchange — where 
every  thing  that  could  be  derived  from  the 
bounty  of  the  crown  or  bestowed  by  the  royal 
prerogative  was  offered  for  sale  in  open  market 
to  the  man  who  would  give  the  best  bargain 
for  it. 

Another  of  the  modes  which  the  king  adopt- 
ed for  raising  money,  and  in  some  respects  the 
worst  of  all,  was  to  impose  fines  as  a  punish- 


1189.]  PREPARATIONS.  95 

Extortion  under  pretense  of  public  justice. 

tnent  for  crime,  and  then,  in  order  to  make  the 
fines  produce  as  much  as  possible,  every  imag- 
inable pretext  was  resorted  to  to  charge  wealthy 
persons  with  offenses,  with  a  view  of  exacting 
large  sums  from  them  as  the  penalty.  It  was 
said  that  a  great  officer  of  state  was  charged 
with  some  offense,  and  was  put  in  prison  and 
not  released  until  he  had  paid  a  fine  of  three 
thousand  pounds. 

One  of  the  worst  of  these  cases  was  that  of 
liis  half-brother  Geoffrey,  the  son  of  Rosamond. 
Geoffrey  had  been  appointed  Archbishop  of 
York  in  accordance  with  the  wish  that  his  fa- 
ther Henry  had  expressed  on  his  death-bed. 
Richard  pretended  to  be  displeased  with  this. 
Perhaps  he  wished  to  have  had  that  office  to 
dispose  of  like  the  rest.  At  any  rate,  he  ex- 
acted a  very  large  sum  from  Geoffrey  as  the 
condition  on  which  he  would  "grant  him  his 
peace,"  as  he  termed  it,  and  Geoffrey  paid  the 
-money. 

When,by  these  and  other  similar  means,Rich- 
ard  had  raised  all  that  he  could  in  England,  he 
prepared  to  cross  the  Channel  into  Normandy, 
in  order  to  see  what  more  he  could  do  there. 
Before  he  went,  however,  he  had  first  to  make 
•arrangements  for  a  regency  to  govern  England 


96  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1189. 

Creating  a  regency.  Richard's  regents. 

while  he  should  be  away.  This  is  always  the 
custom  in  monarchical  countries.  Whenever, 
for  any  reason,  the  true  sovereign  can  not  per- 
sonally exercise  the  supreme  power,  whether 
from  minority,  insanity,  long  -  continued  sick- 
ness, or  protracted  absence  from  the  realm,  a 
regency,  as  it  is  called,  is  created  to  govern  the 
kingdom  in  his  stead.  The  person  appointed 
to  act  as  regent  is  usually  some  near  relation 
of  the  king.  Richard's  brother  John  hoped  to 
be  made  regent,  but  this  did  not  suit  Richard's 
views,  for  he  wished  to  make  this  office  the 
means,  as  all  the  others  had  been,  of  raising 
money,  and  John  had  no  money  to  give.  For 
the  same  reason,  he  could  not  appoint  his  moth- 
er, who  in  other  respects  would  have  been  a 
very  suitable  person.  So  Richard  contrived  a 
sort  of  middle  course.  He  sold  the  nominal 
regency  to  two  wealthy  courtiers,  whom  he  as- 
sociated together  for  the  purpose.  One  was  a 
bishop,  and  the  other  was  an  earl.  It  may,, 
perhaps,  be  too  much  to  say  that  he  directly 
sold  them  the  office,  but,  at  any  rate,  he  ap- 
pointed them  jointly  to  it,  and  under  the  ar- 
rangement that  was  made  he  received  a  large 
sum  of  money.  He,  however,  stipulated  that 
John,  and  also  his  mother,  should  have  a  large 


1189.]  PREPARATIONS.  07 

John's  acquiescence.  The  time  for  sailing  appointed. 

share  of  influence  in  deciding  upon  all  the  meas- 
ures of  the  government.  John  would  have  beer* 
by  no  means  satisfied  with  this  divided  and  un- 
certain share  of  power  were  it  not  that  he  was- 
so  desirous  of  favoring  the  expedition  in  every 
possible  way,  in  hopes  that  if  Richard  could 
once  get  to  the  Holy  Land  he  would  soon  per- 
ish there,  and  that  then  he  should  be  king  alto- 
geth.er.  It  was  of  comparatively  little  conse- 
quence who  was  regent  in  the  mean  time.  Sa 
he  resolved  to  make  no  objection  to  any  plan 
that  the  king  might  propose. 

Richard  was  now  ready  to  cross  to  Norman- 
dy ;  but  just  before  he  went  there  came  a  dep- 
utation from  Philip  to  consult  with  him  in  re- 
spect to  the  plans  of  the  crusade,  and  to  fix 
upon  the  time  for  setting  out.  The  time  pro- 
posed by  Philip  was  the  latter  part  of  March. 
It  was  now  late  in  the  fall.  It  would  not  be 
safe  to  set  out  before  March  on  account  of  the 
inclemency  of  the  season,  and  Richard  supposed 
that  he  should  have  ample  time  to  complete  his- 
preparations  by  the  time  that  Philip  named. 
So  both  parties  agreed  to  it,  and  they  took  a 
solemn  oath  on  both  sides  that  they  would  all 
be  ready  without  fail. 

Soon  after  this  Richard  took  leave  of  his 

7—7 


98  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1189. 

Richard  crosses  the  Channel.  Fears  of  treachery. 

friends,  and,  accompanied  by  a  long  retinue  of 
earls,  barons,  knights,  and  other  adventurers 
who  were  to  accompany  him  to  the  Holy  Land, 
he  left  England,  and  crossed  the  Channel  to 
Normandy. 

In  such  cases  as  this  there  are  always  a  great 
many  last  words  to  be  said  and  a  great  many 
last  arrangements  to  be  made,  and  Richard 
found  it  necessary  to  see  his  mother  and  his 
brother  John  again  before  finally  taking  his  de- 
parture from  Europe.  So  he  sent  for  them  to 
come  to  Normandy,  and  there  another  great 
council  of  state  was  held,  at  which  every  thing 
in  relation  to  the  internal  affairs  of  his  domin- 
ions was  finally  arranged.  There  was  still  one 
other  danger  to  be  guarded  against,  and  that 
was  some  treachery  on  the  part  of  Philip  him- 
self. So  little  reliance  did  these  valiant  cham- 
pions of  Christianity  place  in  each  other  in  those 
days,  that  both  Richard  and  Philip,  in  joining 
together  to  form  this  expedition,  had  many  mis- 
givings and  suspicions  in  respect  to  each  other's 
honesty.  Undoubtedly  neither  of  them  would 
have  thought  it  safe  to  leave  his  dominions  and 
go  on  a  crusade  unless  the  other  had  been  go- 
ing too.  The  one  left  behind  would  have  been 
«ure  to  have  found  some  pretext,  during  the  ab- 


1189.]  PREPARATIONS.  99 

The  treaty  of  alliance  between  Richard  and  Philip. 

sence  of  his  neighbor,  to  invade  his  dominions 
and  plunder  him  of  some  of  his  possessions. 
This  was  one  reason  why  the  two  kings  had 
agreed  to  go  together ;  and  now,  as  an  addition- 
al safeguard,  they  made  a  formal  treaty  of  alli- 
ance and  fraternity,  in  which  they  bound  them- 
selves by  the  most  solemn  oaths  to  stand  by 
each  other,  and  to  be  faithful  and  true  to  each 
other  to  the  last.  They  agreed  that  each  would 
defend  the  life  and  honor  of  the  other  on  all  oc- 
casions ;  that  neither  would  desert  the  other  in 
the  hour  of  danger  ;  and  that,  in  respect  to  the 
dominions  that  they  were  respectively  to  leave 
behind  them,  neither  would  form  any  designs 
against  the  other,  but  that  Philip  would  cher- 
ish and  protect  the  rights  of  Richard  even  as 
he  would  protect  his  own  city  of  Paris,  and  that 
Richard  would  do  the  like  by  Philip,  even  as 
he  would  protect  his  own  city  of  Rouen. 

It  is  a  curious  circumstance  that  in  this 
treaty  Richard  should  name  Rouen,  and  not 
London,  as  his  principal  capital.  It  confirms 
what  is  known  in  many  other  ways,  that  the 
kings  of  this  line,  reigning  over  both  Norman- 
dy and  England,  considered  Normandy  as  the 
chief  centre  of  their  power,  and  England  as  sub- 
ordinate. It  may  be,  however,  that  one  reason 


100  KING  RICHARD   I.          [1189. 


Completion  of  the  preparations. 


•why  Rouen  was  named  in  this  instance  may- 
have  been  because  it  was  nearer  to  the  domin- 
ions of  the  King  of  France,  and  so  better  known 
to  him. 

This  treaty  was  signed  in  February,  and  the 
preparations  were  now  nearly  complete  for  set- 
ting forth  on  the  expedition  in  March,  at  the 
appointed  time. 


1190.]        THE  EMBARKATION.  101 

The  plan  of  embarking  the  troops. 


CHAPTER  VII. 
THE   EMBARKATION. 

THE  plan  which  Richard  had  formed  for 
conveying  his  expedition  to  the  Holy  Land 
was  to  embark  it  on  board  a  fleet  of  ships  which 
lie  was  sending  round  to  Marseilles  for  this  pur- 
pose, with  orders  to  await  him  there.  Mar- 
seilles is  in  the  south  of  France,  not  far  from 
the  Mediterranean  Sea.  Richard  might  have 
«mbarked  his  troops  in  the  English  Channel; 
but  that,  as  the  reader  will  see  from  looking  on 
the  map  of  Europe,  would  require  them  to  take 
a  long  sea  voyage  around  the  coasts  of  France 
and  Spain,  and  through  the  Straits  of  GibraU 
tar.  Richard  thought  it  best  to  avoid  this  long 
circuit  for  his  troops,  and  so  he  sent  the  ships 
round,  with  no  more  men  on  board  than  neces- 
sary to  manoeuvre  them,  while  he  marched  his 
army  across  France  by  land. 

As  for  Philip,  he  had  no  ships  of  his  own. 
England  was  a  maritime  country,  and  had  long 
possessed  a  fleet.  This  fleet  had  been  very 
much  increased  by  the  exertions  of  Henry  the 


102  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1190. 

The  English  fleet.  The  French  forces.  Richard's  rules. 

Second,  Richard's  father,  who  had  built  several 
new  ships,  some  of  them  of  very  large  size,  ex- 
pressly for  the  purpose  of  transporting  troops 
to  Palestine.  Henry  himself  did  not  live  to 
execute  his  plans,  and  so  he  left  his  ships  for 
Richard. 

France,  on  the  other  hand,  was  not  then  a 
maritime  country.  Most  of  the  harbors  on  the 
northern  coast  belonged  to  Normandy,  and  even 
at  the  south  the  ports  did  not  belong  to  the 
King  of  France.  Philip,  therefore,  had  no  fleet 
of  his  own,  but  he  had  made  arrangements  with 
the  republic  of  Genoa  to  furnish  him  with  ships, 
and  so  his  plan  was  to  march  over  the  mount- 
ains to  that  city  and  embark  there,  while  Rich- 
ard should  go  south  to  Marseilles. 

Richard  drew  up  a  curious  set  of  rules  and 
regulations  for  the  government  of  this  fleet 
while  it  was  making  the  passage.  Some  of  the 
rules  were  the  following : 

1.  That  if  any  man  killed  another,  the  mur- 
derer was  to  be  lashed  to  the  dead  body  and 
buried  alive  with  it,  if  the  murder  was  commit- 
ted in  port  or  on  the  land.  If  the  crime  was 
committed  at  sea,  then  the  two  bodies,  bound 
together  as  before,  were  to  be  launched  over- 
board. 


1190.]        THE   EMBARKATION.  103 

"The  origin  of  tarring  and  feathering.  Command  of  the  fleet 


2.  If  any  man,  with  a  knife  or  with  any  other 
•weapon,  struck  another  so  as  to  draw  blood, 
then  he  was  to  be  punished  by  being  ducked 
three  times  over  head  and  ears  by  being  let 
down  from  the  yard-arm  of  the  ship  into  the  sea. 

3.  For  all  sorts  of  profane  and  abusive  lan- 
guage, the  punishment  was  a  fine  of  an  ounce 
of  silver  for  each  offense. 

4.  Any  man  convicted  of  theft,  or  "pickerie" 
as  it  was  called,  was  to  have  his  head  shaved 
and  hot  pitch  poured  over  it,  and  upon  that  the 
feathers  of  some  pillow  or  cushion  were  to  be 
shaken.     The  offender  was  then  to  be  turned 
ashore  on  the   first  land  that  the   ship  might 
reach,  and  there  be  abandoned  to  his  fate. 

The  penalty  named  in  this  last  article  is  the 
first  instance  in  which  any  account  of  the  pun- 
ishment of  tarring  and  feathering  is  mentioned, 
and  this  is  supposed  to  be  the  origin  of  that  ex- 
traordinary and  very  cruel  mode  of  punishment. 

The  king  put  the  fleet  under  the  command 
of  three  grand  officers  of  his  court,  and  he  com- 
manded all  his  seamen  and  marines  to  obey 
them  strictly  in  all  things,  as  they  would  obey 
the  king  himself  if  he  had  been  on  board. 

The  fleet  met  with  a  great  variety  of  adven- 
tures on  its  way  to  Marseilles.  It  had  not  pro- 


104  KING   RICHARD  I.          [1190. 

The  fleet  dispersed  by  a  storm.  A  delay  in  Lisbon, 

ceeded  far  before  a  great  tempest  arose,  arid  scat- 
tered the  ships  in  every  direction.  At  last,  a 
considerable  number  of  them  succeeded  in  mak- 
ing their  way,  in  a  disabled  condition,  into  the 
Tagus,  in  order  to  seek  succor  in  Lisbon.  The 
King  of  Portugal  was  at  this  time  at  war  with 
the  Moors,  who  had  come  over  from  Africa  and 
invaded  his  dominions.  He  proposed  to  the 
Crusaders  on  board  the  ships  to  wait  a  little 
while,  and  assist  him  in  fighting  the  Moors. 
"  They  are  as  great  infidels,"  said  he,  "as  any 
that  you  will  find  in  the  Holy  Land."  The 
commanders  of  the  fleet  acceded  to  this  propo- 
sal, but  the  crews,  when  they  were  landed,  soon 
made  so  many  riots  in  Lisbon,  and  involved 
themselves  in  such  frequent  and  bloody  affrays 
with  the  people  of  the  city,  that  the  King  of 
Portugal  was  soon  eager  to  send  them  away; 
so,  in  due  time,  they  embarked  again,  in  order 
to  continue  their  voyage. 

In  the  mean  time,  while  the  fleet  was  thus 
going  round  by  sea,  Richard  and  Philip  were 
engaged  in  assembling  their  forces  and  making 
preparation  to  march  by  land.  The  two  armies, 
when  finally  organized,  came  together  at  a  place 
of  rendezvous  called  Yezelai,  where  there  were 
great  plains  suitable  for  the  camping-ground  of 


1190.]        THE  EMBARKATION.  105 

The  rendezvous  at  Vezelai.  Devastation  by  the  armies. 

a.  great  military  force.  Vezelai  was  on  the  road 
to  Lyons,  and  the  armies,  after  they  had  met, 
marched  in  company  to  the  latter  city.  The 
number  of  troops  assembled  was  very  great. 
The  united  army  amounted,  it  is  said,  to  one 
hundred  thousand  men.  This  was  a  very  large 
force  for  those  days.  The  great  difficulty  was 
to  find  provision  for  them  from  day  to  day 
during  the  march.  Supplies  of  provisions  for 
such  a  host  can  not  be  carried  far,  so  that  ar- 
mies are  obliged  to  live  on  the  produce  of  the 
country  that  they  march  through,  which  is  col- 
lected for  this  purpose  by  foragers  from  day  to 
day.  The  allied  armies,  as  they  moved  slowly 
on,  impoverished  and  distressed  the  whole  coun- 
try through  which  they  passed,  by  devouring 
every  thing  that  the  people  had  in  store.  At 
length,  after  marching  together  for  some  time, 
they  came  to  the  place  where  the  roads  sep- 
arated, and  King  Philip  turned  off  to  the  left 
in  order  to  proceed  through  the  passes  of  the 
Alps  toward  Genoa,  while  Richard  and  his  hosts 
proceeded  southward  toward  Marseilles. 

When  he  reached  Marseilles,  Richard  found 
that  his  fleet  had  not  arrived.  The  delay  was 
occasioned  by  the  storm,  and  the  subsequent 
detention  of  the  crews  at  Lisbon.  And  yet  this 


106  KING   EICHARD   I.          [1190. 

Richard  goes  to  the  East  in  advance  of  his  fleet 

was  very  long  after  the  time  originally  appoint- 
ed for  the  sailing  of  the  expedition.  The  time 
first  appointed  was  the  last  of  March ;  but 
Philip  could  not  go  at  that  time,  on  account  of 
the  death  of  his  queen,  which  took  place  just 
before  the  appointed  period.  Nor  was  Richard 
himself  ready.  It.  was  not  until  the  thirtieth 
of  August  that  the  fleet  arrived  at  Marseilles. 

When  Richard  found  that  the  fleet  had  not 
come  he  was  greatly  disappointed.  He  had  no 
means  of  knowing  when  to  expect  it,  for  there 
were  no  postal  or  other  communications  across 
the  country  in  those  days,  as  now,  by  which 
tidings  could  be  conveyed  to  him.  He  waited 
eight  days  very  impatiently,  and  then  concluded 
to  go  on  himself  toward  the  East,  and  leave 
orders  for  the  fleet  to  follow  him.  So  he  hired 
ten  large  vessels  and  twenty  galleys  of  the  mer- 
chants of  Marseilles,  and  in  these  he  embarked 
a  portion  of  his  forces,  leaving  the  rest  to  come 
in  the  great  fleet  when  it  should  arrive.  They 
were  to  proceed  to  Messina  in  Sicily,  where 
Richard  was  to  join  them.  With  the  vessels 
that  he  had  hired  he  proceeded  along  the  coast 
to  Genoa,  where  he  found  Philip,  the  French 
king,  who  had  arrived  there  safely  before  him 
by  land. 


1190.]        THE   EMBARKATION.  107 

The  rendezvous  at  Messina.  Joanna.  Richard's  visit. 

From  Marseilles  to  Genoa  the  course  lies  to- 
ward the  northeast  along  the  coast  of  France. 
Thence,  in  going  toward  Messina,  it  turns  to- 
ward the  southeast,  and  follows  the  coast  of 
Italy.  The  route  may  be  traced  very  easily 
on  any  map  of  modern  Europe.  The  reason 
why  Messina  had  been  appointed  as  the  great 
intermediate  rendezvous  of  the  fleet  was  two- 
fold. In  the  first  place,  it  was  a  convenient 
port  for  this  purpose,  being  a  good  harbor,  and 
being  favorably  situated  about  midway  of  the 
voyage.  Then,  besides,  Richard  had  a  sister 
residing  there.  Her  name  was  Joanna.  She 
had  married  the  king  of  the  country.  Her 
husband  had  died,  it  is  true,  and  she  was,  at 
that  tirr  j.  in  some  sense  retired  from  public  life. 
She  was,  indeed,  in  some  distress,  for  the  throne 
had  been  seized  by  a  certain  Tancred,  who  was 
her  enemy,  and,  as  she  maintained,  not  the 
rightful  successor  of  her  husband.  So  Rich- 
ard resolved,  in  stopping  at  Messina,  to  inquire 
into  and  redress  his  sister's  wrongs ;  or,  rather, 
he  thought  the  occasion  offered  him  a  favorable 
opportunity  to  interfere  in  the  affairs  of  Sicily, 
and  to  lord  it  over  the  government  and  people 
there  in  his  usual  arrogant  and  domineering 
manner. 


108  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1190. 

King  Richard's  excursions.  Ostia.  A  quarreL 

After  waiting  a  short  time  at  Genoa,  Richard 
set  sail  again  in  one  of  his  small  vessels,  and 
proceeded  to  the  southward  along  the  coast  of 
Italy.  He  touched  at  several  places  on  the 
coast,  in  order  to  visit  celebrated  cities  or  oth- 
er places  of  interest.  He  sailed  up  the  River 
Arno,  which  you  will  find,  on  the  map,  flowing 
into  the  Gulf  of  Genoa  a  little  to  the  northward 
of  Leghorn.  There  are  two  renowned  cities  on 
this  river,  which  are  very  much  visited  by  tour- 
ists and  travelers  of  the  present  day,  Florence 
and  Pisa.  Pisa  is  near  the  mouth  of  the  river. 
Florence  is  much  farther  inland.  Richard  sail- 
ed up  as  far  as  Pisa.  After  visiting  that  city, 
he  returned  again  to  the  mouth  of  the  river,  and 
then  proceeded  on  his  way  down  the  coast  un- 
til he  came  to  the  Tiber,  and  entered  that  riv- 
er. He  landed  at  Ostia,  a  small  port  near  the 
mouth  of  it — the  port,  in  fact,  of  Rome.  One 
reason  why  he  landed  at  Ostia  was  that  the  gal- 
ley in  which  he  was  making  the  voyage  required 
eome  repairs,  and  this  was  a  convenient  place 
for  making  them. 

Perhaps,  too,  it  was  his  intention  to  visit 
Rome ;  but  while  at  Ostia  he  became  involved 
in  a  quarrel  with  the  bishop  that  resided  there, 
•which  led  him  at  length  to  leave  Ostia  abruptly, 


1190.J        THE   EMBARKATION.  1091 

Why  Richard  quarreled  with  the  bishop. 

and  to  refuse  to  go  to  Rome.  The  cause  of  the 
quarrel  was  the  bishop's  asking  him  to  pay- 
some  money  that  he  owed  the  Pope.  In  all  tlie- 
Catholic  countries  of  Europe,  in  those  days, 
there  were  certain  taxes  and  fees  that  were  col- 
lected for  the  Pope,  the  income  from  which  was- 
of  great  importance  in  making  up  the  papal 
revenues.  Now  Richard,  in  his  eagerness  to 
secure  all  the  money  he  could  obtain  in  En- 
gland to  supply  his  wants  for  the  crusade,  had 
appropriated  to  his  own  use  certain  of  these 
church  funds,  and  the  bishop  now  called  upon 
him  to  reimburse  them.  This  application,  as- 
might  have  been  expected,  made  Richard  ex- 
tremely angry.  He  assailed  the  bishop  with 
the  most  violent  and  abusive  language,  and 
charged  all  sorts  of  corruption  and  wickedness 
against  the  papal  government  itself.  These 
charges  may  have  been  true,  but  the  occasion 
of  being  called  upon  to  pay  a  debt  was  not  the 
proper  time  for  making  them.  To  make  the 
faults  or  misconduct  of  others,  whether  real  or 
pretended,  an  excuse  for  not  rendering  them 
their  just  dues,  is  a  very  base  proceeding. 

As  soon  as  Richard's  galley  was  repaired,  he 
embarked  on  board  of  it  in  a  rage,  and  sailed 
away.  The  next  point  at  which  he  landed  was- 
Naples. 


110  KING   RICHARD  I.          [1190. 

Naples  and  Vesuvius.  The  crypt. 

Richard  was  greatly  delighted  with  the  city 
of  Naples,  which,  rising  as  it  does  from  the 
shores  of  an  enchanting  bay,  and  near  the  base 
of  the  volcano  Vesuvius,  has  long  been  cele- 
brated for  the  romantic  beauty  of  its  situation, 
llichard  remained  at  Naples  several  days.  There 
is  an  account  of  his  going,  while  there,  to  per- 
form his  devotions  in  the  crypt  of  a  church. 
The  crypt  is  a  subterranean  apartment  beneath 
the  church,  the  floors  above  it,  as  well  as  the 
pillars  and  walls  of  the  church,  being  support- 
ed by  immense  piers  and  arches,  which  give  the 
•crypt  the  appearance  of  a  dungeon.  The  place 
is  commonly  used  for  tombs  and  places  of  sep- 
ulture for  the  dead.  In  the  crypt  where  Richard 
worshiped  at  Naples,  the  dead  bodies  were  ar- 
ranged in  niches  all  around  the  walls.  They 
were  dressed  as  they  had  been  when  alive,  and 
their  countenances,  dry  and  shriveled,  were  ex- 
posed to  view,  presenting  a  ghastly  and  horrid 
spectacle.  It  was  such  means  as  these  that 
were  resorted  to,  in  the  Middle  Ages,  for  making 
religious  impressions  on  the  minds  of  men. 

After  spending  some  days  in  Naples,  Richard 
concluded  that  he  would  continue  his  route  ; 
but,  instead  of  embarking  at  once  on  board  his 
galley,  he  determined  to  go  across  the  mountains 


1190.]        THE  EMBARKATION.  lil 

Salerno.  Richard's  visit  there.  The  Heel. 

by  land  to  Salerno,  which  town  lies  on  the  sea- 
coast  at  some  distance  south  of  Naples.  By 
looking  at  any  map  of  Italy,  you  will  observe 
that  a  great  promontory  puts  out  into  the  sea 
just  below  Naples,  forming  the  Gulf  of  Salerno 
on  the  south  side  of  it.  The  pass  through  the 
mountains  which  Richard  followed  led  across, 
the  neck  of  this  promontory.  His  galley,  to- 
gether with  the  other  galleys  that  accompanied 
him,  he  sent  round  by  water.  There  was  a 
great  deal  to  interest  him  at  Salerno,  for  it  was 
a  place  where  many  parties  of  crusaders,  Nor- 
mans among  the  rest,  had  landed  before,  and 
they  had  built  churches  and  monasteries,  and 
founded  institutions  of  learning  there,  all  of 
which  Richard  was  much  interested  in  visiting. 
He  accordingly  remained  in  Salerno  several 
days,  until  at  length  his  fleet  of  galleys,  which 
had  come  round  from  Naples  by  sea,  arrived. 
Richard,  however,  in  the  mean  time,  had  found 
traveling  by  land  so  agreeable,  that  he  concluded 
to  continue  his  journey  in  that  way,  leaving  his 
fleet  to  sail  down  the  coast,  keeping  all  the  time 
as  near  as  possible  to  the  shore.  The  king  him- 
delf  rode  on  upon  the  land,  accompanied  by  a 
very  small  troop  of  attendants.  His  way  led 
him  sometimes  among  the  mountains  of  the  in- 


112  KING  RICHARD   I.          [1190. 

Richard  pursuing  his  journey  along  the  coast  of  the  Mediterranean. 

terior,  and  sometimes  near  the  margin  of  the 
shore.  At  some  points,  where  the  road  ap- 
proached so  near  to  the  cliffs  as  to  afford  a  good 
view  of  the  sea,  the  fleet  of  galleys  were  to  be 
.seen  in  the  offing  prosperously  pursuing  their 
voyage. 

The  king  went  on  in  this  way  till  he  reached 
Calabria,  which  is  the  country  situated  in  the 
southern  portion  of  Italy.  The  roads  here  were 
very  bad,  and  as  the  autumn  was  now  coming 
•on,  many  of  the  streams  became  so  swollen  with 
rains  that  it  was  difficult  sometimes  for  him  to 
proceed  on  his  way.  At  one  time,  while  he  was 
thus  journeying,  he  became  involved  in  a  diffi- 
culty with  a  party  of  peasants  which  was  e:. 
tremely  discreditable  to  him,  and  exhibits  his 
•character  in  a  very  unfavorable  light.  It  seems 
that  he  was  traveling  by  an  obscure  country 
road,  in  company  with  only  a  single  attendant, 
ivhen  he  happened  to  pass  by  a  village,  where 
he  was  told  a  peasant  lived  who  had  a  very  fine 
hunting  hawk  or  falcon.  Hunting  by  means 
of  these  hawks  was  a  common  amusement  of  the 
Jcnights  and  nobles  of  those  days;  and  Richard, 
when  he  heard  about  this  hawk,  said  that  a 
plain  countryman  had  no  business  with  such  a 
bird.  He  declared  that  he  would  go  to  his 


7—8 


1190.]       THE   EMBARKATION.  115 

Richard's  tyrannical  disposition.  Stealing  the  falcon. 

house  and  take  it  away  from  him.  This  act, 
so  characteristic  of  the  despotic  arrogance  which 
marked  Richard's  character,  shows  that  the  reck- 
less ferocity  for  which  he  was  so  renowned  was 
not  softened  or  alleviated  by  any  true  and  gen- 
uine nobleness  or  generosity.  For  a  rich  and 
powerful  king  thus  to  rob  a  poor,  helpless  peas- 
ant, and  on  such  a  pretext  too,  was  as  base  a 
deed  as  we  can  well  conceive  a  royal  personage 
to  perform. 

Richard  at  once  proceeded  to  carry  his  design 
into  execution.  He  went  into  the  peasant's 
house,  and  having,  under  some  pretext  or  oth- 
er, got  possession  of  the  falcon,  he  began  to  ride 
away  with  the  bird  on  his  wrist.  The  peasant 
•called  out  to  him  to  give  him  back  his  bird. 
Richard  paid  no  attention  to  him,  but  rode  on. 
The  peasant  then  called  for  help,  and  other  vil- 
lagers joining  him,  they  followed  the  king,  each 
one  having  seized  in  the  mean  time  such  weapons 
as  came  most  readily  to  hand.  They  surround- 
ed the  king  in  order  to  take  the  falcon  away, 
while  he  attempted  to  beat  them  off  with  his 
sword.  Pretty  soon  he  broke  his  sword  by  a 
blow  which  he  struck  at  one  of  the  peasants, 
and  then  he  was  in  a  great  measure  defenseless. 
His  only  safety  now  was  in  flight.  He  con- 


116  KING  RICHAKD  I.          [1190. 

Richard  flees  to  a  priory  to  escape  the  peasant g. 

trived  to  force  his  way  through  the  circle  that 
surrounded  him,  and  began  to  gallop  away,  fol- 
lowed by  his  attendant.  At  length  he  succeed- 
ed in  reaching  a  priory,  where  he  was  received 
and  protected  from  farther  danger,  having,  in 
the  mean  tune,  given  up  the  falcon.  When  the 
excitement  had  subsided  he  resumed  his  jour- 
ney, and  at  length,  without  any  farther  adven- 
tures, reached  the  coast  at  the  point  nearest  to 
Sicily.  Here  he  passed  the  night  in  a  tent, 
which  he  pitched  upon  the  rocks  on  the  shore, 
waiting  for  arrangements  to  be  made  on  the 
next  day  for  his  public  entrance  into  the  harbor 
of  Messina,  which  lay  just  opposite  to  him, 
across  the  narrow  strait  that  here  separates  the 
island  of  Sicily  from  the  main  land. 


1190.]     KICHARD  AT  MESSINA.         11T 


The  triumphal  entry  into  Messina. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
KING  RICHARD  AT  MESSINA. 

A  LTHOUGH  Richard  came  down  to  the 
-tT\.  Italian  shore,  opposite  to  Messina,  almost 
unattended  and  alone,  and  under  circumstances 
so  ignoble — fugitive  as  he  was  from  a  party  of 
peasants  whom  he  had  incensed  by  an  act  of 
petty  robbery — he  yet  made  his  entry  at  last 
into  the  town  itself  with  a  great  display  of 
pomp  and  parade.  He  remained  on  the  Italian 
side  of  the  strait,  after  he  arrived  on  the  shore, 
until  he  had  sent  over  to  Messina,  and  inform- 
ed the  officers  of  his  fleet,  which,  by  the  way, 
had  already  arrived  there,  that  he  had  come. 
The  whole  fleet  immediately  got  ready,  and 
came  over  to  the  Italian  side  to  take  Richard 
on  board  and  escort  him  over.  Richard  enter- 
ed the  harbor  with  his  fleet  as  if  he  were  a  con- 
queror returning  home.  The  ships  and  galleys 
were  all  fully  manned  and  gayly  decorated,  and 
Richard  arranged  such  a  number  of  musicians 
on  the  decks  of  them  to  blow  trumpets  and 
horns  as  the  fleet  sailed  along  the  shores  and 


118  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1190. 

The  jealousy  of  the  Sicilians  and  the  envy  of  the  French. 

entered  the  harbor  that  the  air  was  rilled  with 
the  echoes  of  them,  and  the  whole  country  was 
•called  out  by  the  sound.  The  Sicilians  were 
•quite  alarmed  to  see  so  formidable  a  host  of 
foreign  soldiers  coming  among  them  ;  and  even 
their  allies,  the  French,  were  not  pleased.  Phil- 
ip began  to  be  jealous  of  Richard's  superior 
power,  and  to  be  alarmed  at  his  assuming  and 
arrogant  demeanor.  Philip  had  arrived  in  Mes- 
sina some  time  before  this,  but  liis  fleet,  which 
was  originally  an  inferior  one,  having  consisted 
of  such  .vessels  only  as  he  could  hire  at  Genoa, 
had  been  greatly  injured  by  storms  during  the 
passage,  so  that  he  had  reached 'Messina  in  a 
very  crippled  condition.  And  now  to  see  Rich- 
ard coming  in  apparently  so  much  his  superior, 
and  with  so  evident  a  disposition  to  make  a  pa- 
rade of  his  superiority,  made  him  anxious  and 
uneasy. 

The  same  feeling  manifested  itself,  too,  among 
his  troops,  and  this  to  such  a  degree  as  to 
threaten  to  break  out  into  open  quarrels  be^ 
tween  the  soldiers  of  the  two  armies. 

"  It  will  never  answer,"  thought  Philip,  "  foi 
us  both  to  remain  long  at  Messina  ;  so  I  will 
set  out  again  myself  as  soon  as  I  possibly 
can." 


1190.]     RICHARD  AT  MESSINA. 

The  winter  sets  in  upon  Richard  and  Philip  in  Sicily. 

Indeed,  there  was  another  very  decisive  rea- 
son for  Philip's  soon  continuing  his  voyage,  and 
that  was  the  necessity  of  diminishing  the  num- 
ber of  soldiers  now  at  Messina  on  account  of 
the  difficulty  of  finding  sustenance  for  them  all. 
Philip  accordingly  made  all  haste  to  refit  his 
fleet  and  to  sail  away ;  but  he  was  again  unfor- 
tunate. He  encountered  another  storm,  and 
was  obliged  to  put  back  again,  and  before  he 
could  be  ready  a  second  time  the  winter  set  in, 
and  he  was  obliged  to  give  up  all  hope  of  leav- 
ing Sicily  until  the  spring. 

The  two  kings  had  foreseen  this  difficulty, 
and  had  earnestly  endeavored  to  avoid  it  by 
making  all  their  arrangements  in  the  first  in- 
stance for  setting  out  from  England  and  France 
in  March,  which  was  the  earliest  possible  season 
for  navigating  the  Mediterranean  safely  with 
such  vessels  as  they  had  in  those  days.  But 
this  plan  the  reader  will  recollect  had  been  frus- 
trated by  the  death  of  Philip's  queen,  and  the 
delays  attendant  upon  that  event,  as  well  as 
other  delays  arising  from  other  causes,  and  it 
was  past  midsummer  before  the  expedition  was 
ready  to  take  its  departure.  The  kings  had 
still  hoped  to  have  reached  the  Holy  Land  be- 
fore winter,  but  now  they  found  themselves 


120  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1190. 

"Winter  quarters.  Tancred.  His  history. 

stopped  on  the  way,  and  Philip,  with  many 
misgivings  in  respect  to  the  result,  prepared  to 
make  the  best  arrangements  that  he  could  for 
putting  his  men  into  winter  quarters. 

Richard  did  in  the  end  become  involved  in 
difficulties  with  Philip  and  with  the  French 
troops,  but  the  most  serious  affair  which  occu- 
pied his  attention  was  a  very  extraordinary 
quarrel  which  he  instigated  between  himself 
and  the  king  of  the  country.  The  name  of  this 
king  was  Tancred. 

The  kingdom  of  Sicily  in  those  days  in- 
cluded not  merely  the  island  of  Sicily,  but  also 
nearly  all  the  southern  part  of  Italy — all  that 
part,  namely,  which  forms  the  foot  and  ankle  of 
Italy,  as  seen  upon  the  map.  It  has  already 
been  said  that  Richard's  sister  Joanna  some 
years  ago  married  the  king  of  this  country. 
The  name  of  the  king  whom  Joanna  married 
was  William,  and  he  was  now  dead.  Tancred 
was  his  successor,  though  not  the  regular  and 
rightful  heir.  In  order  that  the  reader  may  un- 
derstand the  nature  of  the  quarrel  which  broke 
out  between  Tancred  and  Richard,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  explain  how  it  happened  that  Tancred 
succeeded  to  the  throne. 

If  William,  Joanna's    husband,  had  had   a 


1190.]      RICHARD  AT  MESSINA.         121 

William  of  Sicily.  Constance.  Oath  of  allegiance. 

son,  he  would  have  been  the  rightful  successor ; 
but  William  had  no  children,  and  some  time 
before  his  death  he  gave  up  all  expectation  of 
ever  having  any,  so  he  began  to  look  around 
and  consider  who  should  be  his  heir. 

He  fixed  his  mind  upon  a  lady,  the  Princess 
Constance,  who  was  his  cousin  and  his  nearest 
relative.  She  would  have  been  the  heir  had  it 
not  been  that  the  usages  of  the  realm  did  not 
allow  a  wdman  to  reign.  There  was  another 
relative  of  William,  a  young  man  named  Tan- 
cred.  For  some  reasons,  William  was  very  un- 
willing that  Tancred  should  succeed  him.  He 
knew,  however,  that  the  people  would  be  ex- 
tremely averse  to  receive  Constance  as  their 
sovereign  instead  of  Tancred,  on  account  of  her 
being  a  woman ;  but  he  thought  that  he  might 
obviate  this  objection  in  some  degree  by  arrang- 
ing a  marriage  for  her  with  some  powerful 
prince.  This  he  finally  succeeded  in  doing. 
The  prince  whom  he  chose  was  a  son  of  the 
Emperor  of  Germany.  His  name  was  Henry. 
Constance  was  married  to  him,  and  after  her 
marriage  she  left  Sicily  and  went  home  with  her 
husband.  William  then  assembled  all  his  bar- 
ons, and  made  them  take  an  oath  of  allegiance 
to  Constance  and  Henry,  as  rightful  sovereigns 


122  KING  EICHARD   I.  [1190. 

Joanna's  estates  in  the  promontory  of  Mont  Gargano. 

-after  his  decease.  Supposing  every  thing  to  be 
thus  amicably  arranged,  he  settled  himself  qui- 
etly in  his  capital,  the  city  of  Palermo,  intend- 
ing to  live  there  in  peace  with  his  wife  for  the 
remainder  of  his  days. 

When  he  married  Joanna,  he  had  given  her, 
for  her  dower,  a  large  territory  of  rich  estates 
in  Italy.  These  estates  were  all  together,  and 
comprised  what  is  called  the  promontory  of 
Mont  Gargano.  You  will  see  this  promontory 
represented  on  any  map  of  Italy  by  a  small  pro- 
jection on  the  heel,  or,  rather,  a  little  way  above 
the  heel  of  the  foot,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
peninsula.  It  is  nearly  opposite  to  Naples. 
This  territory  was  large,  and  contained,  besides 
a  number  of  valuable  landed  estates,  several 
castles,  with  lakes  and  forests  adjoining ;  also 
two  monasteries,  with  their  pastures,  woods,  and 
vineyards,  and  several  beautiful  lakes.  These 
estates,  and  all  the  income  from  them,  were  se- 
cured to  Joanna  forever. 

Not  very  long  after  William  had  completed 
his  arrangements  for  the  succession,  he  died  un- 
expectedly, while  Constance  was  away  from  the 
kingdom,  at  home  with  her  husband.  Imme- 
diately a  great  number  of  competitors  started 
up  and  claimed  the  crown.  Among  them  was 


1190.]     RICHARD  AT  MESSINA.          123 

Tancred  seizing  the  power.  A  good  pretext  for  wa.'. 

Tancred.  Tancred  took  the  field,  and,  after  a 
desperate  contest  with  his  rivals,  at  length  car- 
ried the  day.  He  considered  Joanna,  the  queen, 
dowager,  as  his  enemy,  and  either  confiscated 
her  estates  or  allowed  others  to  seize  thenu 
He  then  took  her  with  him  to  Palermo,  where, 
as  Richard  was  led  to  believe,  he  kept  her  a 
prisoner.  All  these  things  happened  a  few 
months  only  before  Richard  arrived  in  Messina. 

Palermo,  as  you  will  see  from  any  map  of 
Sicily,  lies  near  the  northwest  corner  of  Sicily, 
and  Messina  near  the  northeast.  In  conse- 
quence of  these  occurrences,  it  happened  that 
when  Richard  landed  in  Sicily  he  found  his 
sister,  the  wife  of  the  former  king  of  the  coun- 
try, a  widow  and  a  prisoner,  and  her  estates 
confiscated,  while  a  person  whom  he  considered 
a  usurper  was  on  the  throne.  A  better  state 
of  things  to  furnish  him  with  a  pretext  for  ag- 
gressions on  the  country  or  the  people  he  could 
not  possibly  have  desired. 

As  soon  as  he  had  landed  his  troops,  he  form- 
ed a  great  encampment  for  them  on  the  sea- 
shore, outside  the  town.  The  place  of  tha  en- 
campment was  bordered  at  one  extremity  by 
the  suburbs  of  the  town,  and  at  the  other  ex- 
tremity was  a  monastery  built  on  a  height. 


124  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1190. 

Richard's  demand.  Tancn  d's  response.  Reprisals. 

As  soon  as  Richard  had  established  himself 
Jiere,  he  sent  a  delegation  to  Tancred  at  Paler- 
mo, demanding  that  he  should  release  Joanna 
and  send  her  to  him.  Tancred  denied  that  Jo- 
-anna  had  been  imprisoned  at  all,  and,  at  any 
.rate,  he  immediately  acceded  to  her  brother's 
demand  that  she  should  be  sent  to  him.  He 
placed  her  on  board  one  of  his  own  royal  gal- 
leys, and  caused  her  to  be  conveyed  in  it,  with 
-a  very  honorable  escort,  to  Messina,  and  there 
delivered  up  to  Richard's  care. 

In  respect  to  the  dower  which  Richard  had 
demanded  that  he  should  restore,  Tancred  com- 
menced giving  some  explanations  in  regard  to 
it,  but  Richard  was  too  impatient  to  listen  to 
them.  "  We  will  not  wait,"  said  he  to  his  sis- 
ter, "  to  hear  any  talking  on  the  subject ;  we 
•will  go  and  take  possession  of  the  territory  our- 
selves." 

So  he  embarked  a  part  of  his  army  on  board 
some  ships  and  transported  them  across  the 
Straits,  and,  landing  on  the  Italian  shore,  he 
seized  a  castle  and  a  portion  of  territory  sur- 
rounding it.  He  put  a  strong  garrison  in  the 
castle,  and  gave  the  command  of  it  to  Joanna, 
while  he  went  back  to  Messina  to  strengthen 
the  position  of  the  remainder  of  his  army  there. 


1190.]     RICHARD  AT  MESSINA.         125 

Fortifying  a  monastery.  Soldiers'  troubles. 

He  thought  that  the  monastery  which  flanked 
his  encampment  on  the  side  farthest  from  the 
town  would  make  a  good  fortress  if  he  had  pos- 
session of  it,  and  that,  if  well  fortified,  it  would 
strengthen  very  much  the  defenses  of  his  en- 
campment in  case  Tancred  should  attempt  to 
molest  him.  So  he  at  once  took  possession  of 
it.  He  turned  the  monks  out  of  doors,  removed 
all  the  sacred  implements  and  emblems,  and 
turned  the  buildings  into  a  fortress.  He  put  in 
a  garrison  of  soldiers  to  guard  it,  and  filled  the 
rooms  which  the  monks  had  been  accustomed 
to  .use  for  their  studies  and  their  prayers  with 
stores  of  arms  and  ammunition  brought  in  from 
the  ships,  and  with  other  apparatus  of  war. 
His  object  was  to  be  ready  to  meet  Tancred,  at 
a  moment's  warning,  if  he  should  attempt  to  at- 
tack him. 

Soon  after  this  a  very  serious  difficulty  broke 
out  between  the  soldiers  of  the  army  and  the 
people  of  Messina.  There  is  almost  always  dif- 
ficulty between  the  soldiers  of  an  army  and  the 
people  of  any  town  near  which  the  army  is  en- 
camped. The  soldiers,  brutal  in  their  passions, 
and  standing  in  awe  of  none  but  their  own  offi- 
cers, are  often  exceedingly  violent  and  unjust 
in  their  demeanor  toward  unarmed  and  helpless 


126  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1190. 

The  army  provoke  a  riot  in  Messina. 

citizens,  and  the  citizens,  though  they  usually 
endure  very  long  and  very  patiently,  sometimes 
become  aroused  to  resentment  and  retaliation  at 
last.  In  this  case,  parties  of  Richard's  soldiers 
went  into  Messina,  and  behaved  so  outrageous- 
ly toward  the  inhabitants,  and  especially  toward 
the  young  women,  that  the  indignation  of  the 
husbands  and  fathers  was  excited  to  the  high- 
est degree.  The  soldiers  were  attacked  in  the 
streets.  Several  of  them  were  killed.  The 
rest  fled,  and  were  pursued  by  the  crowd  of 
citizens  to  the  gates.  Those  that  escaped  went 
to  the  camp,  breathless  with  excitement  and 
burning  with  rage,  and  called  upon  all  their  fel- 
low-soldiers to  join  them  and  revenge  their 
wrongs.  A  great  riot  was  created,  and  banda 
of  furious  men,  hastily  collected  together,  ad- 
vanced toward  the  city,  brandishing  their  arms 
and  uttering  furious  cries,  determined  to  break 
through  the  gates  and  kill  every  body  that  they 
could  find.  Richard  heard  of  the  danger  just 
in  time  to  mount  his  horse  and  ride  to  the  gates 
of  the  city,  and  there  to  head  off  the  soldiers 
and  drive  them  back  ;  but  they  were  so  furious 
that,  for  a  time,  they  would  not  hear  him,  but 
still  pressed  on.  He  was  obliged  to  ride  in. 
among  them,  and  actually  beat  them  back  witli 


1190.]     RICHARD  AT  MESSINA.         127 

The  intense  excitement.  The  conference  broken  up. 

his  truncheon,  before  he  could  compel  them  to 
give  up  their  design. 

The  next  day  a  meeting  of  the  chief  officers 
in  the  two  armies,  with  the  chief  magistrates 
and  some  of  the  principal  citizens  of  Messina, 
was  held,  to  consider  what  to  do  to  settle  this 
dispute,  and  to  prevent  future  outbreaks  of  this 
character.  But  the  state  of  excitement  between 
the  two  parties  was  too  great  to  be  settled  yet 
in  any  amicable  manner.  While  the  confer- 
ence was  proceeding,  a  great  crowd  of  people 
from  the  town  collected  on  a  rising  ground  just 
above  the  place  where  the  conference  was  sit- 
ting. They  said  they  only  came  as  spectators. 
Richard  alleged,  on  the  other  hand,  that  they 
were  preparing  to  attack  the  conference.  At 
any  rate,  they  were  excited  and  angry,  and  as- 
sumed a  very  threatening  attitude.  Some  Nor- 
mans who  approached  them  got  into  an  alterca- 
tion with  them,  and  at  length  one  of  the  Nor- 
mans was  killed,  and  the  rest  cried  out,  "To 
arms !"  The  conference  broke  up  in  confusion. 
Richard  rushed  to  the  camp  and  called  out  his 
men.  He  was  in  a  state  of  fury.  Philip  did 
all  in  his  power  to  allay  the  storm  and  to  pre- 
vent a  combat,  and  when  he  found  that  Richard 
would  not  listen  to  him,  he  declared  that  he  had 


128  KING   EICHARD   I.          [1190. 

Richard's  uncontrollable  passion.  The  attack  on  Meseina. 

a  great  mind  to  join  with  the  Sicilians  and 
fight  him.  This,  however,  he  did  not  do,  but 
contented  himself  with  doing  all  he  could  to- 
calm  the  excitement  of  his  angry  ally.  But 
Richard  was  not  to  be  controlled.  He  rushed 
on,  at  the  head  of  his  troops,  up  the  hill  to  the 
ground  where  the  Sicilians  were  assembled. 
He  attacked  them  furiously.  They  were,  to 
some  extent,  armed,  but  they  were  not  organ- 
ized, and,  of  course,  they  could  not  stand  against 
the  charge  of  the  soldiers.  They  fled  in  con- 
fusion toward  the  city.  Richard  and  his  troops 
followed  them,  killing  as  many  of  them  as  they 
could  in  the  pursuit.  The  Sicilians  crowded 
into  the  city  and  shut  the  gates.  Of  course, 
the  whole  town  was  now  alarmed,  and  all  the 
people  that  could  fight  were  marshaled  on  the 
walls  and  at  the  gates  to  defend  themselves. 

Richard  retired  for  a  brief  period  till  he  could 
bring  on  a  larger  force,  and  then  made  a  grand 
attack  on  the  walls.  Several  of  his  officers  and 
soldiers  were  killed  by  darts  and  arrows  from 
the  battlements,  but  at  length  the  walls  were 
taken  by  storm,  the  gates  were  opened,  and 
Richard  marched  in  at  the  head  of  his  troops. 
When  the  people  were  entirely  subdued,  Rich- 
ard hung  out  his  flag  on  a  high  tower  in  token 


1190.]     RICHARD  AT  MESSINA. 

Contest  between  Phil  p  and  Richard.  A  reconciliation. 

that  he  had  taken  full  and  formal  possession  of 
Tancred's  capital. 

Philip  remonstrated  against  this  very  strong- 
ly, but  Richard  declared  that,  now  that  he  had 
got  possession  of  Messina,  he  would  keep  pos- 
session until  Tancred  came  to  terms  with  him 
in  respect  to  his  sister  Joanna.  Philip  insist- 
ed that  he  should  not  do  this,  but  threatened  to 
break  off'  the  alliance  unless  Richard  would  give 
up  the  town.  Finally  the  matter  was  compro- 
mised by  Richard  agreeing  that  he  would  take 
down  the  flag  and  withdraw  from  the  town  him- 
self, and  for  the  present  put  it  under  the  gov- 
ernment of  certain  knights  that  he  and  Philip 
should  jointly  appoint  for  this  purpose. 

After  the  excitement  of  this  affair  had  a  lit- 
tle subsided,  Richard  and  Philip  began  to  con- 
sider how  unwise  it  was  for  them  to  quarrel 
with  each  other,  engaged  as  they  were  together 
in  an  enterprise  of  such  magnitude  and  of  so 
much  hazard,  and  one  in  which  it  was  impossi- 
ble for  them  to  hope  to  succeed,  unless  they  con- 
tinued united,  and  so  they  became  reconciled, 
or,  at  least,  pretended  to  be  so,  and  made  new 
vows  of  eternal  friendship  and  brotherhood. 
Still,  notwithstanding  these  protestations, 

Richard  went  on  lording  it  over  the  Sicilians 
7—9 


130  KING  RICHARD   I.          [1190. 

Fortifying.  Richard  brings  Tancred  to  terms. 

in  the  most  high-handed  manner.  Some  no- 
bles of  high  rank  were  so  indignant  at  these  pro- 
ceedings that  they  left  the  town.  Richard  im- 
mediately confiscated  their  estates  and  convert- 
ed the  proceeds  to  his  own  use.  He  proceeded 
to  fortify  his  encampment  more  and  more.  The 
monastery  which  he  had  forcibly  taken  from  the 
monks  he  turned  into  a  complete  castle.  He 
made  battlements  on  the  walls,  and  surrounded 
the  whole  with  a  moat.  He  also  built  another 
castle  on  the  hills  commanding  the  town.  He 
acted,  in  a  word,  in  all  respects  as  if  he  consid- 
ered himself  master  of  the  country.  He  did  not 
consult  Philip  at  all  in  respect  to  any  of  these 
proceedings,  and  he  paid  no  attention  to  the  re- 
monstrances that  Philip  from  time  to  time  ad- 
dressed to  him.  Philip  was  exceedingly  angry, 
but  he  did  not  see  what  he  could  do. 

Tancred,  too,  began  to  be  very  much  alarm- 
ed. He  wished  to  know  of  Richard  what  it 
was  that  he  demanded  in  respect  to  Joanna. 
Richard  said  he  would  consider  and  let  him 
know.  In  a  short  time  he  made  known  his 
terms  as  follows.  He  said  that  Tancred  must 
restore  to  his  sister  all  the  territories  which,  as 
he  alleged,  had  belonged  to  her,  and  also  give 
her  "  a  golden  chair,  a  golden  table  twelve  feet 


1190.]     RICHARD  AT  MESSINA.         131 

What  Richard  required  of  Tancred. 

long  and  a  foot  and  a  half  broad,  two  golden 
supports  for  the  same,  four  silver  cups,  and  four 
silver  dishes."  He  pretended  that,  by  a  custom 
of  the  realm,  she  was  entitled  to  these  things. 
He  also  demanded  for  himself  a  very  large  con- 
tribution toward  the  armament  and  equipment 
for  the  crusade.  It  seems  that  at  one  period 
during  the  lifetime  of  William,  Joanna's  hus- 
band, her  father,  King  Henry  of  England,  was 
planning  a  crusade,  and  that  William,  by  a  will 
which  he  made  at  that  time — so  at  least  Rich- 
ard maintained — had  bequeathed  a  large  contri- 
bution toward  the  necessary  means  for  fitting  it 
out.  The  items  were  these : 

1.  Sixty  thousand  measures  of  wheat. 

2.  The  same  quantity  of  barley. 

3.  A  fleet  of  a  thousand  armed  galleys,  equip- 
ped and  provisioned  for  two  years. 

4.  A  silken  tent  large  enough  to  accommo- 
date two  hundred  knights  sitting  at  a  banquet. 

These  particulars  show  on  how  great  a  scale 
these  military  expeditions  for  conquering  the 
Holy  Land  were  conducted  in  those  days,  the 
above  list  being  only  a  complimentary  contri- 
bution to  one  of  them  by  a  friend  of  the  leader 
of  it. 

Richard  now  maintained  that,  though  his  fa- 


132  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1190. 


The  final  conditions  of  peace. 


ther  Henry  had  died  without  going  on  the  cru- 
jsade,  still  he  himself  was  going,  and  that  he, 
being  the  son,  and  consequently  the  represent- 
ative and  heir  of  Henry,  was,  as  such,  entitled 
to  receive  the  bequest ;  so  he  called  upon  Tan- 
cred to  pay  it. 

After  much  negotiation,  the  dispute  was  set- 
tled by  Richard's  waiving  these  claims,  and  ar- 
ranging the  matter  on  a  new  and  different  basis. 
He  had  a  nephew  named  Arthur.  Arthur  was 
yet  very  young,  being  only  about  two  years  old ; 
and  as  Richard  had  no  children  of  his  own,  Ar- 
thur was  his  presumptive  heir.  Tancred  had 
a  daughter,  yet  an  infant.  Now  it  was  finally 
proposed  that  Arthur  and  this  young  daughter 
of  Tancred  should  be  affianced,  and  that  Tan- 
cred should  pay  to  Richard  twenty  thousand 
pieces  of  gold  as  her  dowry !  Richard  was,  of 
course,  to  take  this  money  as  the  guardian  and 
trustee  of  his  nephew,  and  he  was  to  engage 
that,  if  any  thing  should  occur  hereafter  to  pre- 
vent the  marriage  from  taking  place,  he  would 
refund  the  money.  Tancred  was  also  to  pay 
Richard  twenty  thousand  pieces  of  gold  besides, 
in  full  settlement  of  all  claims  in  behalf  of  Jo- 
anna. These  terms  were  finally  agreed  to  on 
both  sides. 


1190.]     RICHARD  AT   MESSINA.          133 

King  Richard's  league  with  Tancred.  The  treaty  signed. 

Richard  also  entered  into  a  league,  offensive 
.and  defensive,  with  Tancred,  agreeing  to  assist 
him  in  maintaining  his  position  as  King  of  Sic- 
ily against  all  his  enemies.  This  is  a  very  im- 
portant circumstance  to  be  remembered,  for  the 
-chief  of  Tancred's  enemies  was  the  Emperor 
Henry  of  Germany,  the  prince  who  had  married 
Constance,  as  has  been  already  related.  Hen- 
ry's father  had  died,  and  he  had  become  Empe- 
ror of  Germany  himself,  and  he  now  claimed 
Sicily  as  the  inheritance  of  Constance  his  wife, 
according  to  the  will  of  King  William,  Joanna's 
husband.  Tancred,  he  maintained,  was  a 
usurper,  and,  of  course,  now  Richard,  by  his 
league,  offensive  and  defensive,  with  Tancred, 
made  himself  Henry's  enemy.  This  led  him 
into  serious  difficulty  with  Henry  at  a  subse- 
quent period,  as  we  shall  by-and-by  see. 

The  treaty  between  Richard  and  Tancred  was 
drawn  up  in  due  form  and  duly  executed,  and 
it  was  sent  for  safe  keeping  to  Rome,  and  there 
deposited  with  the  Pope.  Tancred  paid  Rich- 
ard the  money,  and  he  imme'diately  began  to 
squander  it  in  the  most  lavish  and  extravagant 
manner.  He  expended  the  infant  princess's 
dower,  which  he  held  in  trust  for  Arthur,  as 
freely  as  he  did  the  other  money.  Indeed,  this 


134  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1190, 

Royal  trustees  are  not  always  faithful. 

was  a  very  common  way,  in  those  days,  for  great 
kings  to  raise  money.  If  they  had  a  young  son 
or  heir,  no  matter  how  young  he  was,  they 
would  contract  to  give  him  in  marriage  to  the 
little  daughter  of  some  other  potentate  on  con- 
dition of  receiving  some  town,  or  castle,  or  prov- 
ince, or  large  sum  of  money  as  dower.  The 
idea  was,  of  course,  that  they  were  to  take  this 
dower  in  charge  for  the  young  prince,  to  keep 
it  for  him  until  he  should  become  old  enough 
to  be  actually  married,  but  in  reality  they  would 
take  possession  of  the  property  themselves,  and 
convert  it  at  once  to  their  own  use. 

Richard  himself  had  been  affianced  in  this 
way  in  his  infancy  to  Alice,  the  daughter  of  the 
then  reigning  King  of  France,  and  the  sister  of 
Philip,  and  his  father,  King  Henry  the  Second, 
had  received  and  appropriated  the  dowry. 

Indeed,  in  this  case,  both  the  sums  of  money 
that  Richard  received  from  Tancred  were  paid 
to  Richard  in  trust,  or,  at  least,  ought  to  have 
been  so  regarded,  the  one  amount  being  for  Ar- 
thur, and  the  other  for  Joanna.  Richard  him- 
self, in  his  own  name,  had  no  claims  on  Tan- 
cred whatever ;  but  as  soon  as  the  money  came 
into  his  hands,  he  began  to  expend  it  in  the 
most  profuse  and  lavish  manner.  He  adopted 


1190.]     EICHARD   AT   MESSINA.         135 

Extravagance  of  Richard's  court  Spring  approaching. 

a  very  extravagant  and  ostentatious  style  of 
living.  He  made  costly  presents  to  the  bar- 
xms,  and  knights,  and  officers  of  the  armies,  in- 
cluding the  French  army  as  well  as  his  own, 
and  gave  them  most  magnificent  entertainments. 
Philip  thought  that  he  did  this  to  secure  popu- 
larity, and  that  the  presents  which  he  made  to 
the  French  knights  and  nobles  were  designed  to 
entice  them  away  from  their  allegiance  and  fidel- 
ity to  him,  their  lawful  sovereign.  At  Christ- 
mas he  gave  a  splendid  entertainment,  to  which 
he  invited  every  person  of  the  rank  of  a  knight 
or  a  gentleman  in  both  armies,  and  at  the  close 
of  the  feast  he  made  a  donation  in  money  to 
each  of  the  guests,  the  sum  being  different  in 
different  cases,  according  to  the  rank  and  sta- 
tion of  the  person  who  received  it. 

The  king,  having  thus  at  last  settled  his  quar- 
rels and  established  himself  in  something  like 
peace  in  Sicily,  began  to  turn  his  attention  to- 
ward the  preparations  for  the  spring.  "Of 
course,  his  intention  was,  as  soon  as  the  spring 
should  open,  to  set  sail  with  his  fleet  and  army, 
and  proceed  toward  the  Holy  Land.  He  now 
caused  all  his  ships  to  be  examined  with  a  view 
to  ascertain  what  repairs  they  needed.  Some 
had  been  injured  by  the  storms  which  they  had 


136  KING  RICHARD   I.          [1190. 

Repairing  the  fleet.  Battering-rams.  Modern  ordnance. 

encountered  on  the  way  from  Marseilles  or  by 
accidents  of  the  sea.  Others  had  become  worm- 
eaten  and  leaky  by  lying  in  port.  Richard 
caused  them  all  to  be  put  thoroughly  in  repair. 
He  also  caused  a  number  of  battering  engines 
to  be  constructed  of  timber  which  his  men 
hauled  from  the  forests  around  the  base  of 
Mount  JEitna..  These  engines  were  for  assail- 
ing the  walls  of  the  towns  and  fortresses  in  the 
Holy  Land. 

In  modern  times  walls  are  always  attacked 
with  mortars  and  cannon.  The  ordnance  of 
the  present  day  will  throw  shot  and  shells  of 
prodigious  weight  two  or  three  miles,  and  these 
tremendous  missiles  strike  against  the  walls  of 
a  fortress  with  such  force  as  in  a  short  time  to 
batter  them  down,  no  matter  how  strong  and 
thick  they  may  be.  But  in  those  days  gun- 
powder was  not  in  use,  and  the  principal  means 
of  breaking  down  a  wall  was  by  the  battering- 
ram^  which  consisted  of  a  heavy  beam  of  wood, 
hung  by  a  rope  or  chain  from  a  massive  frame, 
and  then  swung  against  the  gate  or  wall  which 
it  was  intended  to  break  through.  In  the  en- 
graving you  see  such  a  ram  suspended  from 
the  frame,  with  men  at  work  below,  impelling 
it  against  a  gateway. 


THE   BATTEBINO-KAJL 


1190.]     EICHARD   AT   MESSINA.          139 

The  methods  of  war  in  ancient  times. 

Sometimes  these  battering-rams  were  very 
large  and  heavy,  and  the  men  drew  them  back 
and  forth,  in  striking  the  wall  with  them,  by 
means  of  ropes.  There  are  accounts  of  some 
battering-rams  which  weighed  forty  or  fifty 
tons,  and  required  fifteen  hundred  men  to  work 
them. 

The  men,  of  course,  were  very  much  exposed 
while  engaged  in  this  operation,  for  the  people 
whom  they  were  besieging  would  gather  on  the 
walls  above,  and  shoot  spears,  darts,  and  ar- 
rows at  them,  and  throw  down  stones  and  other 
missiles,  as  you  see  in  the  engraving. 

Then,  besides  the  battering-ram,  which, 
though  very  efficient  against  walls,  was  of  no 
service  against  men,  there  were  other  engines 


TilK  UALU8TA.. 


140 


KING  RICHARD  I. 


Catapultas. 


Ballistas. 


Maginalls. 


made  in  those  days  which  were  designed  to 
throw  stones  or  monstrous  darts.  These  last 
were,  of  course,  designed  to  operate  against 
bodies  of  men.  They  were  made  in  various 
forms,  and  were  called  catapultas,  ballistas,  mag- 


TIIE   CA.TAPULTA. 


mails,  and  by  other  such  names.  The  force 
with  which  they  operated  consisted  of  springs 
made  by  elastic  bars  of  wood,  twisted  ropes, 
and  other  such  contrivances. 

Some  were  for  throwing  stones,  others  for 
monstrous  darts.  Of  course,  these  engines  re- 
quired for  their  construction  heavy  frames  of 
sound  timber.  Richard  did  not  expect  to  find 
such  timber  in  the  Holy  Land,  nor  did  he  wish 


1190.]     EICHARD  AT  MESSINA.        141 

The  religious  observances  of  tyrants. 

to  consume  the  time  after  he  should  arrive  in» 
making  them ;  so  he  employed  the  winter  in> 
constructing  a  great  number  of  these  engines, 
and  in  packing  them,  in  parts,  on  board  his- 
galleys. 

Richard  performed  a  great  religious  ceremo~ 
ny,  too,  while  he  was  at  Sicily  this  winter,  as  a- 
part  of  the  preparation  which  he  deemed  it  nec- 
essary to  make  for  the  campaign.  It  is  a  re- 
markable  fact  that  every  great  military  freeboot- 
er that  has  organized  an  armed  gang  of  men  to* 
go  forth,  and  rob  and  murder  his  fellow-men,  in 
any  age  of  the  world,  has  considered  some  great 
religious  performance  necessary  at  the  outset  of 
the  work,  to  prepare  the  minds  of  his  soldiers 
for  it,  and  to  give  them  the  necessary  resolution 
and  confidence  in  it.  It  was  so  with  Alexan- 
der. It  was  so  with  Xerxes  and  with  Darius. 
It  was  so  with  Pyrrhus.  It  is  so  substantially 
at  the  present  day,  when,  in  all  wars,  each  side 
makes  itself  the  champion  of  heaven  in  the 
contest,  and  causes  Te  Deums  to  be  chanted  in 
their  respective  churches,  now  on  this  side  and 
now  on  that,  in  pretended  gratitude  to  God  for 
their  alternate  victories. 

Richard  called  a  grand  convention  of  all  the 
prelates  and  monks  that  were  with  his  army,. 


142  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1190. 

Richard's  penitence  and  penance.  Was  he  sincere  ? 

and  performed  a  solemn  act  of  worship.  A  part 
of  the  performance  consisted  of  his  kneeling  per- 
sonally before  the  priests,  confessing  his  sins 
and  the  wicked  life  that  he  had  led,  and  mak- 
ing very  fervent  promises  to  sin  no  more,  and 
then,  after  submitting  to  the  penances  which 
they  enjoined  upon  him,  receiving  from  them 
pardon  and  absolution.  After  the  enactment 
of  this  solemnity,  the  soldiers  felt  far  more  safe 
and  strong  in  going  forth  to  the  work  which  lay 
before  them  in  the  Holy  Land  than  before. 

Nor  is  it  certain  that  in  this  act  Richard  was 
wholly  hypocritical  and  insincere.  The  human 
heart  is  a  mansion  of  many  chambers,  and  a  re- 
ligious sentiment,  in  no  small  degree  conscien- 
tious and  honest,  though  hollow  and  mistaken, 
may  have  strong  possession  of  some  of  them, 
while  others  are  filled  to  overflowing  with  the 
dear  and  besetting  sins,  whatever  they  are,  by 
which  the  general  conduct  of  the  man  is  con- 
trolled. 


1190.]  BERENGARIA.  143 


Richard's  betrothal  to  Berengaria. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
BERENGARIA. 

WHILE  Richard  was  in  the  kingdom  of 
Sicily  during  this  memorable  winter,  he 
made  a  new  contract  of  marriage.  The  lady 
was  a  Spanish  princess  named  Berengaria. 
The  circumstances  of  this  betrothment  were 
somewhat  extraordinary. 

The  reader  will  recollect  that  he  had  been 
betrothed  in  his  earliest  youth  to  Alice,  an  in- 
fant princess  of  France.  His  father  had  thrown, 
him  in,  as  it  were,  as  a  sort  of  makeweight,  in 
arranging  some  compromise  with  the  King  of 
France  for  the  settlement  of  a  quarrel,  and  also 
to  obtain  the  dower  of  the  young  princess  for 
his  own  use.  This  dower  consisted  of  various 
castles  and  estates,  which  were  immediately  put 
into  the  hands  of  Henry,  Richard's  father,  and 
which  he  continued  to  hold  as  long  as  he  lived, 
using  and  enjoying  the  rents  and  revenues  from 
them  as  his  own  property.  When  Richard 
grew  old  enough  to  claim  his  bride,  Henry,  un- 
der whose  custody  and  charge  she  had  been 


144  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1190. 

The  obstacles  which  prevented  the  marriage  of  Richard  and  Alice. 

placed,  would  not  give  her  up  to  him;  and  long 
and  serious  quarrels  arose  between  the  father 
and  the  son  on  this  account,  as  has  already  been 
related  in  this  volume.  The  most  obvious  rea- 
son for  which  Henry  might  be  supposed  unwil- 
ling to  give  up  Alice  to  her  affianced  husband, 
when  he  became  old  enough  to  be  married  to 
her,  was,  that  he  wished  to  retain  longer  the 
use  of  the  castles  and  estates  that  constituted 
lier  dowry.  But,  in  addition  to  this,  it  was  sur- 
mised by  many  that  he  had  actually  fallen  in 
love  with  her  himself,  and  that  he  was  determ- 
ined that  Richard  should  not  have  her  at  all. 
Richard  himself  believed,  or  pretended  to  be- 
lieve, that  this  was  the  case.  He  was  conse- 
quently very  angry,  and  he  justified  himself  in 
the  wars  and  rebellions  that  he  raised  against 
his  father  during  the  lifetime  of  the  king  by 
this  great  wrong  which  he  alleged  that  his  fa- 
ther had  done  him.  On  the  other  hand,  many 
persons  supposed  that  Richard  did  not  really 
wish  to  marry  Alice,  and  that  he  only  made  the 
fact  of  his  father's  withholding  her  from  him  a 
pretext  for  his  unnatural  hostility,  the  real  ends 
and  aims  of  which  were  objects  altogether  dif- 
ferent. 

However  this  may  be,  when  Henry  died,  and 


1190.]  BERENGARIA.  145 

The  first  acquaintance  of  Richard  and  the  Princess  Berengaria. 

there  was  no  longer  any  thing  in  the  way  of  his 
marriage,  he  showed  no  desire  to  consummate 
it.  Alice's  father,  too,  had  died,  and  Philip,  the 
present  King  of  France,  and  Richard's  ally,  was 
her  brother.  Philip  called  upon  Richard  from 
time  to  time  to  complete  the  marriage,  but  Rich- 
ard found  various  pretexts  for  postponing  it,  and 
thus  the  matter  stood  when  the  expedition  for 
the  Holy  Land  set  sail  from  Marseilles. 

The  next  reason  why  Richard  did  not  now 
wish  to  carry  his  marriage  with  Alice  into  effect 
was  that,  in  the  mean  time,  while  his  father  had 
been  withholding  Alice  from  him,  he  had  seen 
and  fallen  in  love  with  another  lady,  the  Prin- 
cess Berengaria.  Richard  first  saw  Berengaria 
several  years  before,  at  a  time  when  he  was  with 
his  mother  in  Aquitaine,  during  the  life  of  his 
father.  The  first  time  that  he  saw  her  was  at 
•a  grand  tournament  which  was  celebrated  in  her 
native  city  in  Spain,  and  which  Richard  went 
to  attend.  The  families  had  been  well  acquaint- 
ed with  each  other  before,  though,  until  the  tour- 
nament, Richard  had  never  seen  Berengaria. 
Richard  had,  however,  known  one  of  her  broth- 
ers from  his  boyhood,  and  they  had  always  been 
very  great  friends.  The  father  of  Berengaria, 
loo,  Sancho  the  Wise,  King  of  Navarre,  had  al- 
7—10 


146  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1190. 

The  fame  of  Berengaria.  Her  accomplishments. 

ways  been  a  warm  friend  of  Eleanora,  Richard's 
mother,  and  in  the  course  of  the  difficulties  and 
quarrels  that  took  place  between  her  and  her 
husband,  as  related  in  the  early  chapters  of  this 
volume,  he  had  rendered  her  very  valuable  serv- 
ices. Still,  Richard  never  saw  Berengaria  until 
she  had  grown  up  to  womanhood. 

He,  however,  felt  a  strong  desire  to  see  her, 
for  she  was  quite  celebrated  for  her  beauty  and 
her  accomplishments.  The  accomplishments  in 
which  she  excelled  were  chiefly  music  and  poet- 
ry. Richard  himself  was  greatly  interested  in 
these  arts,  especially  in  the  songs  of  the  Trou- 
badours, whose  performances  always  formed  a 
very  important  part  of  the  entertainment  at  the 
feasts  and  tournaments,  and  other  great  public 
celebrations  of  those  days. 

When  Richard  came  to  see  Berengaria,  he 
fell  deeply  in  love  with  her.  But  he  could  not 
seek  her  hand  in  marriage  on  account  of  his 
engagement  with  Alice.  To  have  given  up 
Alice,  and  to  have  entered  instead  into  an  en- 
gagement with  her,  would  have  involved  both 
him  and  his  mother,  and  all  the  family  of  Beren- 
garia too,  in  a  fierce  quarrel  witli  the  King  of 
France,  the  father  of  Alice,  and  also  with  his 
own  father.  These  were  too  serious  conse- 


1190.]  BERENGARIA.  147 

Kleanora  sent  to  King  Sancho  to  ask  his  daughter  in  marriage. 

quences  for  him  to  brave  while  he  was  still  only 
a  prince,  and  nominally  under  his  father's  au- 
thority. So  he  did  nothing  openly,  though  a 
strong  secret  attachment  sprang  up  between  him 
and  Berengaria,  and  all  desire  ever  to  make  Al- 
ice his  wife  gradually  disappeared. 

At  length,  when  his  father  died,  and  Richard 
became  King  of  England,  he  felt  at  once  that 
the  power  was  now  in  his  own  hands,  and  that 
he  would  do  as  he  liked  in  respect  to  his  mar- 
riage. Alice's  father,  too,  had  died,  and  her 
brother  Philip  was  now  king,  and  he  was  not 
likely  to  feel  so  strong  an  interest  in  resenting 
any  supposed  slight  to  his  sister  as  her  father 
would  have  been.  Richard  determined,  there- 
fore, to  give  up  Alice  altogether,  and  ask  Beren- 
garia to  be  his  wife.  So,  while  he  was  engaged 
in  England  in  making  his  preparations  for  the 
crusade,  and  when  he  was  nearly  ready  to  set 
out,  he  sent  his  mother,  Eleanora,  to  Navarre  to 
ask  Berengaria  in  marriage  of  her  father,  King 
Sancho.  He  did  not,  however,  give  Philip  any 
notice  of  this  change  in  his  plans,  not  wishing 
to  embarrass  the  alliance  that  he  and  Philip 
were  forming  with  any  unnecessary  difficulties 
which  might  interfere  with  the  success  of  it, 
and  retard  the  preparations  for  the  crusade. 


148  KING   RICHARD   I.  [1190. 

Berengaria's  acceptance.  The  expedition  to  meet  Kichanl. 

So,  while  his  mother  had  gone  to  Spain  to  se- 
cure Berengaria  for  him  as  his  wife,  he  himself,. 
in  England  and  Normandy,  went  on  with  his 
preparations  for  the  crusade  in  connection  with 
Philip,  just  as  if  the  original  engagement  with 
Alice  was  going  regularly  on. 

Eleanora  was  very  successful  in  her  mission- 
Sancho,  Berengaria's  father,  was  very  much 
pleased  with  so  magnificent  an  offer  as  that  of 
the  hand  of  Richard,  Duke  of  Normandy  and 
King  of  England,  for  his  daughter.  Berengaria 
herself  made  no  objection.  Eleanora  said  that 
her  son  had  not  been  able  to  come  himself  and 
claim  his  bride,  on  account  of  the  necessity  that 
he  was  under  of  accompanying  his  army  to  the 
East,  but  she  said  that  he  would  stop  at  Mes- 
sina, and  she  proposed  that  Berengaria  should 
put  herself  under  her  protection,  and  go  and 
join  him  there. 

Berengaria  was  a  lady  of  an  ardent  and  ro- 
mantic temperament,  and  nothing  could  please 
her  better  than  such  a  proposal  as  this.  She 
very  readily  acceded  to  it,  and  her  father  was 
very  willing  to  intrust  her  to  the  charge  of  El- 
eanora. So  the  two  ladies,  with  a  proper  train 
of  barons,  knights,  and  other  attendants,  set  out 
together.  They  crossed  the  Pyrenees  into> 


1190.]  BERENGARIA.  149 

Uerengaria  at  Brindisi  with  Joanna. 

France,  and  then,  after  traversing  France,  they 
passed  over  the  Alps  into  Italy.  Thence  they 
continued  their  journey  down  the  Italian  coast 
by  land,  as  Richard  had  done  by  water,  until 
at  last  they  arrived  at  a  place  called  Brindisi, 
which  is  on  the  coast  of  Italy,  not  far  from  Mes- 
sina. Here  they  halted,  and  sent  word  to  Rich- 
ard to  inform  him  of  their  arrival. 

Eleanora  thought  that  Berengaria  could  not 
go  any  farther  with  propriety,  for  her  engage- 
ment with  Richard  was  not  yet  made  public. 
Indeed,  the  betrothal  of  Richard  with  Alice  still 
remained  nominally  in  force,  and  a  serious  dif- 
ficulty was  to  be  apprehended  with  Philip  so 
soon  as  the  new  plans  which  Richard  had  form- 
ed should  be  announced  to  him. 

Eleanora  said  that  she  could  not  remain  long 
in  Italy,  but  must  return  to  Normandy  very 
soon,  without  waiting  for  Richard  to  prepare  the 
way  for  receiving  his  bride.  So  she  left  Beren- 
garia under  the  charge  of  Joanna,  who,  being 
her  own — that  is,  Eleanora's — daughter,  was  a 
very  proper  person  to  be  the  young  lady's  pro- 
tector. Joanna  and  Berengaria  immediately 
conceived  a  strong  attachment  for  each  other, 
and  they  lived  together  in  a  very  happy  man- 
ner. Joanna  was  glad  to  have  for  a  companion 


150  KING   EICHAKD   I.          [1190. 

The  friendship  between  Joanna  and  Berengaria. 

so  charming  a  young  lady,  and  one  of  so  high 
a  rank,  and  Berengaria,  on  the  other  hand,  was 
much  pleased  to  be  placed  under  the  charge  of 
so  kind  a  protector.  Joanna,  too,  having  long 
lived  in  Sicily,  could  give  Berengaria  a  great 
deal  of  interesting  intelligence  about  the  coun- 
try and  the  people,  and  could  answer  all  the 
thousand  questions  which  she  asked  about  what 
she  heard  and  saw  in  the  new  world,  as  it  were, 
into  which  she  had  been  ushered. 

The  two  ladies  lived,  of  course,  in  very  close 
seclusion,  but  they  lived  so  lovingly  together 
that  one  of  the  writers  of  the  day,  in  a  ballad 
that  he  wrote,  compared  them  to  two  birds  in  a 
cage.  Speaking  of  Eleanora,  he  says,  in  the 
quaint  old  English  of  the  day, 

"She  beleft  Berengere 
At  Richard's  costage. 
Queen  Joanne  held  her  dear ; 
They  lived  as  doves  in  a  cage." 

The  arrival  of  Berengaria  at  Brindisi  took 
place  in  the  spring  of  the  year,  when  the  time 
was  drawing  nigh  for  the  fleets  and  armaments 
to  sail  for  the  East.  As  yet,  Philip  knew  noth- 
ing of  Richard's  plans  in  respect  to  this  new 
marriage,  but  the  time  had  now  arrived  when 
Richard  perceived  that  they  could  no  longer  be 


1190.]  BERENGARIA.  151 

Tancred  receives  a  letter  from  Philip.  Treachery. 

concealed.  Philip  entertained  suspicions  that 
something  wrong  was  going  on,  though  he  did 
not  know  exactly  what.  His  suspicions  made 
him  watchful  and  jealous,  and  at  last  they  led 
to  a  curious  train  of  circumstances,  which 
brought  matters  to  a  crisis  very  suddenly. 

It  seems  that  at  one  time,  when  Richard  was 
paying  a  visit  to  Tancred,  the  King  of  Sicily, 
Tancred  showed  him  a  letter  which  he  said  he 
had  received  from  the  French  king.  In  this  let- 
ter, Philip — if,  indeed,  Philip  really  wrote  it — 
endeavored  to  excite  Tancred's  enmity  against 
Richard.  It  was  just  after  the  treaty  between 
Tancred  and  Richard  had  been  formed,  as  re- 
lated in  the  last  chapter.  The  letter  said  that 
Richard  was  a  treacherous  man,  in  whom  no  re- 
liance could  be  placed ;  that  he  had  no  inten- 
tion of  keeping  the  treaty  that  he  had  made,  but 
was  laying  a  scheme  for  attacking  Tancred  in 
his  Sicilian  dominions ;  and,  finally,  it  closed 
with  an  offer  on  the  part  of  the  writer  to  assist 
Tancred  in  driving  Richard  and  all  his  follow- 
ers out  of  the  island. 

When  Richard  read  this  letter,  he  was  at 
first  in  a  dreadful  rage,  and  he  broke  out  into 
an  explosion  of  the  most  violent,  profane,  and 
passionate  language  that  can  be  conceived. 


152 


KING  RICHARD   I.          [1190. 


Philip's  letter  to  Tancrcd. 


Richard's  opinion  of  it. 


THB  LKTTKE. 


Presently  he  looked  at  the  letter  again,  and  on 
reperusing  it,  and  carefully  considering  its  con- 
tents, he  declared  that  he  did  not  believe  that 
Philip  ever  wrote  it.  It  was  a  stratagem  of 
Tancred's,  he  thought,  designed  to  promote  a 
quarrel  between  Richard  and  his  ally.  Tan- 
cred  assured  him  that  Philip  did  write  the  let- 
ter, or,  at  least,  that  it  was  brought  to  him  as 


1190.]  BERENGARIA.  153 

The  etiquette  of  dueling.  Kichard  charges  the  letter  upon  Philip. 

from  Philip  by  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  one  of 
his  principal  officers. 

"  You  may  ask  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,"  said 
he,  "and  if  he  denies  it,  I  will  challenge  him  to 
a  duel  through  one  of  my  barons." 

It  was  necessary  that  the  parties  to  a  duel, 
in  those  days,  should  be  of  equal  rank,  so  that, 
if  a  king  had  a  quarrel  with  a  nobleman  of  an- 
other nation,  he  could  only  send  one  of  his  own 
noblemen  of  the  same  rank  to  be  his  represent- 
ative in  the  combat.  But  this  proposal  of  send- 
ing another  man  to  risk  his  life  in  maintaining 
the  cause  of  his  king  on  a  question  of  veracity, 
in  which  the  person  so  sent  had  no  interest 
whatever,  illustrates  very  curiously  the  ideas 
of  those  chivalrous  times. 

Richard  did  not  go  to  the  Duke  of  Burgun- 
dy, but,  taking  the  letter  which  Tancred  had 
shown  him,  he  waited  until  he  found  a  good  op- 
portunity, and  then  showed  it  to  Philip.  The 
two  kings  often  fell  into  altercations  and  dis- 
putes in  their  interviews  with  each  other,  and  it 
was  in  one  of  these  that  Richard  produced  the 
letter,  offering  it  by  way  of  recrimination  to 
some  charges  or  accusations  which  Philip  was 
making  against  him.  Philip  denied  having  writ- 
ten the  letter.  It  was  a  forgery,  he  said,  and 


154  KING   RICHARD   I.  [1190. 

Philip's  reply.  Richard's  declaration. 

he  believed  that  Richard  himself  was  the  author 
of  it. 

"You  are  trying  every  way  you  can,"  said 
he,  "  to  find  pretexts  for  quarreling  with  me, 
and  this  is  one  of  your  devices.  I  know  what 
you  are  aiming  at:  you  wish  to  quarrel  with 
me  so  as  to  find  some  excuse  for  breaking  off 
your  marriage  with  my  sister,  whom  you  are 
bound  by  a  most  solemn  oath  to  marry.  But 
of  this  you  may  be  sure,  that  if  you  abandon 
her  and  take  any  other  wife,  you  will  find  me, 
as  long  as  you  live,  your  most  determined  and 
mortal  enemy." 

This  declaration  aroused  Richard's  temper, 
and  brought  the  affair  at  once  to  a  crisis. 
Richard  declared  to  Philip  that  he  never  would 
marry  his  sister. 

"My  father,"  said  he,  "kept  her  from  me 
for  many  years  because  he  loved  her  himself, 
and  she  returned  his  love,  and  now  I  will  nev- 
er have  any  thing  to  do  with  her.  I  am  ready 
to  prove  to  you  the  truth  of  what  I  say." 

So  Richard  brought  forward  what  he  called 
the  proofs  of  the  very  intimate  relations  which 
had  subsisted  between  Alice  and  his  father. 
Whether  there  was  any  thing  genuine  or  con- 
clusive in  these  proofs  is  not  known.  At  all 


1190.]       .       BERENGARIA.  155 

Richard  and  Philip  compromise  their  quarreL 

events,  they  made  a  very  deep  and  painful  im- 
pression on  Philip.  The  disclosure  was,  as  one 
of  the  writers  of  those  times  says,  "  like  a  nail 
driven  directly  through  his  heart." 

After  a  while,  the  two  kings  concluded  to 
settle  the  difficulty  by  a  sort  of  compromise. 
Philip  agreed  to  give  up  all  claims  on  the  part 
of  Alice  to  Richard  in  consideration  of  a  sum 
of  money  which  Richard  was  to  pay.  Richard 
was  to  pay  two  thousand  marks*  a  year  for  five 
years,  and  was  on  that  condition  to  be  allowed 
to  marry  any  one  he  chose.  He  was  also  to 
restore  to  Philip  the  fortresses  and  estates  which 
had  been  conveyed  to  his  father  as  Alice's  dow- 
ry at  the  time  of  her  betrothment  to  Richard 
in  her  infancy. 

This  agreement,  being  thus  made,  was  con- 
firmed by  a  great  profusion  of  oaths,  sworn  with 
all  solemnity,  and  the  affair  was  considered  as 
settled. 

Still,  Richard  seems  to  have  been  a  little  dis- 
inclined to  bring  out  Berengaria  at  once  from 
her  retreat,  and  let  Philip  know  suddenly  how 
far  his  arrangements  for  marrying  another  lady 
had  gone ;  so  he  concluded  to  wait,  before  pub- 
licly announcing  his  intended  marriage,  until 
*  The  mark  is  about  three  dollars. 


156  KING  RICHARD  I.         [1190. 

Re-embarkation.  Preparations  for  the  marriage. 

Philip  should  have  sailed  for  the  East.  Philip 
was  now,  indeed,  nearly  ready  to  go ;  his  fleet 
and  his  armament,  being  smaller  than  Richard's, 
could  be  dispatched  earlier;  so  Richard  de- 
voted himself  very  earnestly  to  the  work  of  fa- 
cilitating and  hastening  his  ally's  departure,  de- 
termining that  immediately  afterward  he  would 
bring  forward  his  bride  and  celebrate  his  mar- 
riage. 

It  is  not,  however,  certain  that  he  kept  his 
intended  marriage  with  Berengaria  an  absolute 
secret  from  Philip.  There  would  be  no  longer 
any  special  necessity  for  this  after  the  treaty 
that  had  been  made.  But,  notwithstanding  this 
agreement,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  new 
marriage  would  be  a  very  agreeable  subject  for 
Philip  to  contemplate,  or  that  it  would  be  other- 
wise than  very  awkward  for  him  to  be  present 
on  the  occasion  of  the  celebration  of  it ;  so 
Richard  decided  that,  on  all  accounts,  it  w?s 
best  to  postpone  the  ceremony  until  after  Philip 
had  gone. 

Philip  sailed  the  very  last  of  March.  Rich- 
ard selected  from  his  fleet  a  few  of  his  most 
splendid  galleys,  and  with  these,  filled  wrth  a 
chosen  company  of  knights  and  barons,  he  ac- 
companied Philip  as  he  left  the  harbor,  and 


1190.]  BERENGARIA. 


Richard  escorting  Philip.  Why  the  wedding  was  postponed. 

sailed  with  him  down  the  Straits  of  Messina, 
with  trumpets  sounding,  and  flags  and  banners 
waving  in  the  air.  As  soon  as  Philip's  fleet 
reached  the  open  sea,  Richard  took  leave,  and 
«et  out  with  his  galleys  on  his  return ;  but,  in- 
stead of  going  back  to  Messina,  he  made  the  best 
of  his  way  to  the  port  in  Italy  where  Berengaria 
and  Joanna  were  lodging,  a«d  there  took  the  la- 
dies, who  were  all  ready,  expecting  him,  and  em- 
barking them  on  board  a  very  elegantly  adorned 
galley  which  he  had  prepared  for  them,  he  con- 
ducted them  to  Messina. 

Richard  would  now  probably  have  been  im- 
mediately married,  but  it  was  in  the  season  of 
Lent,  and,  according  to  the  ideas  of  those  times, 
it  would  be  in  some  sense  a  desecration  of  that 
holy  season  of  fasting  to  celebrate  any  such 
joyous  ceremony  as  a  wedding  in  it ;  and  it 
would  not  do  very  well  to  postpone  the  sailing 
of  the  fleet  until  after  the  season  of  Lent  should 
have  expired,  for  the  time  had  already  fully  ar- 
rived when  it  ought  to  sail,  and  Philip,  with 
his  division  of  the  allied  force,  had  already  gone ; 
so  he  concluded  to  put  off  his  marriage  till  they 
should  reach  the  next  place  at  which  the  expe- 
dition should  land. 

Berengaria  consented  to  this,  and  it  was  ar- 


158  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1190. 

Richard  puts  Joanna  and  Berengaria  in  charge  of  Stephen. 

ranged  that  she  was  to  accompany  the  expedi- 
tion when  it  should  sail,  and  that  at  the  next 
place  of  landing,  which  it  was  expected  would 
be  the  island  of  Rhocbs,  the  marriage  ceremony 
should  be  performed. 

As  it  was  not  considered  quite  proper,  how- 
ever, under  these  circumstances,  that  the  prin- 
cess should  sail  in  the  same  ship  with  Richard, 
a  very  strong  and  excellent  ship  was  provided 
for  her  special  use,  and  that  of  Joanna  who  was 
to  accompany  her,  and  it  was  arranged  that  she 
should  sail  from  the  port  just  before  the  main 
body  of  the  fleet  were  ready  to  commence  the 
voyage.  The  ship  in  which  the  ladies  and  their 
suite  were  conveyed  was  placed  under  the  com- 
mand of  a  brave  and  faithful  knight  named  Ste- 
phen of  Turnham,  and  the  two  princesses  were 
committed  to  his  special  charge. 

But,  although  Richard's  regard  for  the  sacred 
season  of  Lent  would  not  allow  of  his  celebra- 
ting the  marriage,  he  made  a  grand  celebration 
in  honor  of  his  betrothment  to  Berengaria  be- 
fore he  sailed.  At  this  celebration  he  insti- 
tuted an  order  of  twenty-four  knights.  These 
knights  bound  themselves  in  a  fraternity  with 
the  king,  and  took  a  solemn  oath  that  they 
would  scale  the  walls  of  Acre  when  they  reach- 


1190.]  BERENGARIA.  159 

The  vow  to  conquer  Acre.  Richard's  present  to  Tancred. 

ed  the  Holy  Land.  Acre  was  one  of  the  strong- 
est and  most  important  fortresses  in  that  coun- 
try, and  one  which  they  were  intending  first  to 
attack. 

Also,  before  he  went  away,  Richard  made 
King  Tancred  a  farewell  present  of  a  very  val- 
uable antique  sword,  which  had  been  found,  he 
said,  by  his  father  in  the  tomb  of  a  famous  old 
English  knight  who  had  lived  some  centuries 
before. 


160  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1190. 

The  exped'tion  is  at  last  ready  to  sail  from  Sicily. 


CHAPTER  X. 
THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  CYPRUS. 

THE  time  at  length  fully  arrived  for  the  de- 
parture of  the  English  fleet  from  Sicily 
for  the  purpose  of  continuing  the  voyage  to  the 
Holy  Land.  Besides  the  delay  which  had  been 
occasioned  to  Richard  by  circumstances  con- 
nected with  his  marriage,  he  had  waited  also  a 
short  time  for  some  store-ships  to  arrive  from 
England  with  ammunition  and  supplies.  When 
the  store-ships  at  length  came,  the  day  for  the 
sailing  was  immediately  appointed,  the  tents 
were  struck,  the  encampment  abandoned,  and 
the  troops  embarked  on  board  the  ships  of  the- 
fleet. 

The  Sicilians  were  all  greatly  excited,  as  the 
sailing  of  the  fleet  drew  nigh,  with  anticipations 
of  the  splendor  of  the  spectacle.  The  harbor 
was  filled  with  ships  of  every  form  and  size, 
and  the  movements  connected  with  the  embark- 
ation of  the  troops  on  board  of  them,  the  strik- 
ing of  the  tents,  the  packing  up  of  furniture  and 
goods,  the  hurrying  of  men  to  and  fro,  the  crowd- 


1190.]     CAMPAIGN   IN   CYPRUS.          161 

The  grand  spectacle  of  the  embarkation  at  Meesiua. 


ing  at  the  landings,  the  rapid  transit  of  boats 
back  and  forth  between  the  ships  and  the  shore, 
and  all  the  other  scenes  and  incidents  usually 
attendant  on  the  embarkation  of  a  great  army, 
occupied  the  attention  of  the  people  of  the  coun- 
try, and  filled  them  with  excitement  and  pleas- 
ure. It  is  highly  probable,  too,  that  their  pleas- 
ure was  increased  by  the  prospect  that  they 
were  soon  to  be  relieved  from  the  presence  of 
such  troublesome  and  unmanageable  visitors. 

Never  was  a  finer  spectacle  witnessed  than 
that  which  was  displayed  by  the  sailing  of  the 
fleet,  when  the  day  for  the  departure  of  it  at 
length  arrived.  The  squadron  consisted  of 
nearly  two  hundred  vessels  in  all.  There  were 
thirteen  great  ships,  corresponding  to  what  are 
called  ships  of  the  line  of  modern  times.  Then 
there  were  over  fifty  galleys.  These  were  con- 
structed so  as  to  be  propelled  either  by  oars  or 
by  sails.  Of  course,  when  the  wind  was  favor- 
able, the  sails  would  be  used ;  but  in  case  of 
calms,  or  of  adverse  winds  blowing  off  from  the 
land  when  the  vessels  were  entering  port,  or  of 
currents  drifting  them  into  danger,  then  the 
oars  could  be  brought  into  requisition.  In  ad- 
dition to  these  ships  and  galleys,  there  were 

about  a  hundred  vessels  used  as  transports  for 
7—11 


162  KING   RICHARD  I.          [1190. 

The  order  of  sailing.  Trenc-le-mer. 

the  conveyance  of  provisions,  stores,  tents,  and 
tent  equipage,  ammunition  of  all  kinds,  includ- 
ing the  frames  of  the  military  engines  which 
Richard  had  caused  to  be  constructed  in  Sicily, 
and  all  the  other  supplies  required  for  the  use 
of  a  great  army.  Besides  these  there  were  a 
great  many  other  smaller  vessels,  which  were 
used  as  tenders,  lighters,  and  for  other  such  pur- 
poses, making  a  total  number  of  nearly  two 
hundred.  In  the  order  of  sailing,  the  trans- 
ports followed  the  ships  and  galleys,  which 
were  more  properly  the  ships  of  war,  and  which 
led  the  van,  in  order  the  better  to  meet  any  dan- 
ger which  might  appear,  and  the  more  effectu- 
ally to  protect  the  convoy  from  it. 

Richard  sailed  at  the  head  of  his  fleet  in  a 
splendid  galley,  which  was  appropriated  to  his 
special  use.  The  name  of  it  was  the  Sea  Cut- 
ter.* There  was  a  huge  lantern  hoisted  in  the 
stern  of  Richard's  galley,  in  order  that  the  rest 
of  the  fleet  could  see  and  follow  her  in  the  night. 

The  day  of  sailing  was  very  fine,  and  the 
spectacle,  witnessed  by  the  Sicilians  on  shore, 
who  watched  the  progress  of  it  from  every  pro- 
jecting point  and  headland  as  it  moved  majes- 
tically out  of  the  harbor,  was  extremely  grand. 
*  Trenc-le-mer ;  literally,  Cut  the  sea. 


1190.]     CAMPAIGN   IN   CYPRUS.          165 

The  storm.  Navigation  in  the  twelfth  centniy. 

For  some  time  the  voyage  went  on  very  pros- 
perously, but  at  length  the  sky  gradually  became 
overcast,  and  the  wind  began  to  blow,  and  final- 
ly a  great  storm  came  on  before  the  ships  had 
time  to  seek  any  shelter.  In  those  days  there 
was  no  mariner's  compass,  and  of  course,  in  a 
storm,  when  the  sun  and  stars  were  concealed, 
there  was  nothing  to  be  done  but  for  the  ship 
to  grope  her  way  through  the  haze  and  rain  for 
any  land  which  might  be  near.  The  violence 
of  the  wind  and  the  raging  of  the  sea  was  in  this 
case  so  great  that  the  fleet  was  soon  dispersed, 
and  the  vessels  were  driven  northward  and  east- 
ward toward  certain  islands  which  lie  in  that 
part  of  the  Mediterranean,  off  the  coasts  of  Asia 
Minor.  The  three  principal  of  these  islands,  as 
you  will  see  by  the  opposite  map,  are  Candia, 
Rhodes,  and  Cyprus,  Cyprus  lying  farther  to- 
ward the  east. 

The  ships  came  very  near  being  wrecked  on 
the  coast  of  Crete,  but  they  escaped  and  were 
driven  onward  over  the  sea,  until  at  length  a 
large  portion  of  them  found  refuge  at  Rhodes. 
Others  were  driven  on  toward  Cyprus.  Rich- 
ard's galley  was  among  those  that  found  refuge 
at  Rhodes ;  but,  unfortunately,  the  one  in  which 
Berengaria  and  Joanna  were  borne  did  not  sue- 


166  KING   RICHARD  I.  [1190. 


Limesol  in  Cyprus.  The  wrecked  ships.  The  wreckers. 

ceed  in  making  a  port  there,  but  was  swept  on- 
ward by  the  gale,  and,  in  company  with  one  or 
two  others,  was  driven  to  the  mouth  of  the  har- 
bor of  Limesol,  which  is  the  principal  port  of 
Cyprus,  and  is  situated  on  the  south  side  of 
the  island.  The  galley  in  which  the  queen  and 
the  princess  were  embarked,  being  probably  of 
superior  construction  to  the  others,  and  better 
manned,  succeeded  in  weathering  the  point  and 
getting  round  into  the  harbor,  but  two  or  three 
other  galleys  which  were  with  them  struck  and 
were  wrecked.  One  of  these  ships  was  a  very 
important  one.  It  contained  the  chancellor  who 
bore  Richard's  great  seal,  besides  a  number  of 
other  knights  and  crusaders  of  high  rank,  and 
many  valuable  goods.  The  seal  was  an  object 
of  great  value.  Every  king  had  his  own  seal, 
which  was  used  to  authenticate  his  public  acts. 
The  one  which  belonged  to  Richard  is  repre- 
sented in  the  following  engraving. 

As  soon  as  the  news  of  these  wrecks  spread 
into  the  island,  the  people  came  down  in  great 
numbers,  and  took  possession  of  every  thing  of 
value  which  was  cast  upon  the  shore  as  proper- 
ty forfeited  to  the  king  of  the  country.  The 
name  of  this  king  was  Isaac  Comnenus. 

He  claimed  that  all  wrecks  cast  upon  his 


1190.]     CAMPAIGN   IN   CYPRUS.          167 

King  Richard's  seal.  Isaac  Comnenns.  Law  and  justice. 


KING  EICUARD'S  SEAL. 


shores  were  his  property.  That  was  the  law 
of  the  land  ;  it  was,  in  fact,  the  law  of  a  great 
many  countries  in  those  days,  especially  of  such 
as  had  maritime  coasts  bordering  on  navigable 
waters  that  were  specially  exposed  to  storms. 

Thus,  in  seizing  the  wreck  of  Richard's  ves- 
sels, King  Isaac  had  the  law  on  his  side,  and 
all  those  who,  in  their  theory  of  government, 
hold  it  as  a  principle  that  law  is  the  foundation 
of  property,  and  that  what  the  law  makes  right 
is  right,  must  admit  that  he  had  justice  on  his 


•168  KING  RICHAKD  I.  [1190. 

Law  is  not  the  creator,  but  the  protector  of  property. 

side  too.  For  my  part,  it  seems  clear  that  the 
right  of  property  is  anterior  to  all  law,  and  in- 
dependent of  it.  I  think  that  the  province  of 
law  is  not  to  create  property,  but  to  protect  it, 
and  that  it  may,  instead  of  protecting  it,  become 
the  greatest  violator  of  it.  This  law  providing 
for  the  confiscation  of  property  cast  in  wrecks 
upon  a  shore,  and  its  forfeiture  to  the  sovereign 
of  the  territory,  is  one  of  the  most  striking  in- 
stances of  aggression  made  by  law  on  the  nat- 
ural and  indefeasible  rights  of  man. 

In  regard  to  the  galley  which  contained  the 
queens,  that  having  escaped  shipwreck,  and 
having  safely  anchored  in  the  harbor,  the  king 
had  no  pretext  for  molesting  it  in  any  way. 
He  learned  by  some  means  that  Queen  Joanna 
was  on  board  the  galley ;  so  he  sent  two  boats 
down  with  a  messenger,  to  inquire  whether  her 
majesty  would  be  pleased  to  land. 

Stephen  of  Turnham,  the  knight  who  had 
command  of  the  queen's  galley,  thought  it  not 
safe  to  go  on  shore,  for  by  doing  so  Joanna  and 
Berengaria  would  put  themselves  entirely  in 
King  Isaac's  power ;  and  though  it  was  true  that 
Isaac  and  the  people  of  Cyprus  over  whom  he 
ruled  were  Christians,  yet  they  were  of  the 
Greek  Church,  while  Richard  and  the  English 


1190.]     CAMPAIGN   IN   CYPRUS.         169 


Joanna's  inquiries  for  her  brother. 


were  Roman,  and  these  two  churches  were  al- 
most as  hostile  to  each  other  as  the  Christians 
and  the  Turks.  Stephen,  however,  communi- 
cated the  message  from  Isaac  to  Joanna,  and 
asked  her  majesty's  pleasure  thereupon.  She 
sent  back  word  to  the  messengers  that  she  did 
not  wish  to  land.  She  had  only  come  into  the 
harbor,  she  said,  to  see  if  she  could  learn  any 
tidings  of  her  brother ;  she  had  been  separated 
from  him  by  a  great  storm  at  sea,  which  had 
broken  up  and  dispersed  the  fleet,  and  she 
wished  to  know  whether  any  thing  had  been 
seen  of  him,  or  of  any  of  his  vessels,  from  the 
shores  of  that  island. 

The  messengers  replied  that  they  did  not 
know  any  thing  about  it,  and  so  the  boats  re- 
turned back  to  the  town.  Soon  after  this  the 
company  on  board  the  galley  saw  some  armed 
vessels  coming  down  the  harbor  toward  them. 
They  were  alarmed  at  this  sight,  and  immedi- 
ately got  every  tiling  ready  for  setting  off  at  a 
moment's  notice  to  withdraw  from  the  harbor. 
It  turned  out  that  the  king  himself  was  on  board 
one  of  the  galleys  that  was  coming  down,  and 
this  vessel  was  allowed  to  come  near  enough 
for  the  king  to  communicate  with  the  people  on 
board  Joanna's  galley.  After  some  ordinary 


170  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1190. 

A  retreat.  Richard's  vessel  appea-s. 

questions  had  been  asked  and  answered,  the 
king,  observing  that  a  lady  of  high  rank  was 
standing  on  the  deck  with  Joanna,  asked  who 
it  was.  They  answered  that  it  was  the  Prin- 
cess of  Navarre,  who  was  going  to  be  married 
to  Richard.  In  the  reply  which  the  king  made 
to  this  intelligence  Stephen  of  Turnham  thought 
he  saw  such  indications  of  hostility  that  he 
deemed  it  most  prudent  to  retire ;  so  the  anchor 
was  raised,  and  the  order  was  given  to  the  oars- 
men, who  had  already  been  stationed  at  their 
oars,  to  "  give  way,"  and  the  oarsmen  pulled 
vigorously  at  the  oars.  The  galley  was  imme- 
diately taken  out  into  the  offing.  The  King  of 
Cyprus  did  not  pursue  her;  so  she  anchored 
there  quietly,  the  storm  having  now  nearly  sub- 
sided. Stephen  resolved  to  wait  there  for  a 
time,  hoping  that  in  some  way  or  other  he 
might  soon  receive  intelligence  from  Richard. 

Nor  was  he  disappointed.  Richard,  whose 
galley,  together  with  the  principal  portion  of 
the  fleet,  had  been  driven  farther  to  the  east- 
ward, had  found  refuge  at  Rhodes,  and  he  set 
off,  as  soon  as  the  storm  abated,  in  pursuit  of 
the  missing  vessels.  He  took  with  him  a  suf- 
ficient force  to  render  to  the  vessels,  if  he  should 
find  them,  such  assistance  or  protection  as  might 


1190.]     CAMPAIGN   IN   CYPRUS.          171 

];ichard's  indignation  on  meeting  Joanna's  vessel. 

be  necessary.  At  length  he  reached  Cyprus, 
and,  on  entering  the  bay,  there  lie  beheld  the 
galley  of  Joanna  and  Berengaria  riding  safely 
at  anchor  in  the  offing.  The  sea  had  not  yet 
gone  down,  and  the  vessel  was  rolling  and  toss- 
ing on  the  waves  in  a  fearful  manner.  Rich- 
ard was  greatly  enraged  at  beholding  this  spec- 
tacle, for  he  at  once  inferred,  by  seeing  the  ves- 
sel in  this  uncomfortable  situation  outside  the 
harbor,  that  some  difficulty  with  the  authorities 
had  occurred  which  prevented  her  seeking  ref- 
uge and  protection  within.  Accordingly,  as 
soon  as  he  came  near,  he  leaped  into  a  boat, 
although  burdened  as  he  was  with  heavy  armor 
of  steel,  which  was  a  difficult  and  somewhat 
dangerous  operation,  and  ordered  himself  to  be 
rowed  immediately  on  board. 

When  he  arrived,  after  the  first  greetings 
were  over,  he  was  informed  by  Stephen  that 
three  of  the  vessels  of  his  fleet  had  been  wreck- 
ed on  the  coast ;  that  Isaac,  the  king,  had  seized 
them  as  his  lawful  prize ;  and  that,  at  that  very 
time,  men  that  he  had  sent  for  this  purpose 
were  plundering  the  wrecks.  Stephen  also  said 
that  he  had  at  first  gone  into  the  harbor  with 
his  galley,  but  that  the  indications  of  an  un- 
friendly feeling  on  the  part  of  the  king  were  so 


172  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1190. 

Richard's  contest  with  King  Isaac  Comnenua 

decided  that  he  did  not  dare  to  stay,  and  he  had 
been  compelled  to  come  out  into  the  offing. 

On  hearing  these  things  Richard  was  great- 
ly enraged.  He  sent  a  messenger  on  shore  to 
the  king  to  demand  peremptorily  that  he  should 
at  once  leave  off  plundering  the  wrecks  of  the 
English  ships,  and  that  he  should  deliver  up  to 
Richard  again  all  the  goods  that  had  already 
been  taken.  To  this  demand  Isaac  replied  that 
whatever  goods  the  sea  cast  upon  the  shores  of 
his  island  were  his  property,  according  to  the 
law  of  the  land,  and  that  he  should  take  them 
without  asking  leave  of  any  body. 

When  Richard  heard  this  answer,  he  waa 
rather  pleased  than  displeased  with  it,  for  it 
gave  him,  what  he  always  wanted  wherever  he 
went,  a  pretext  for  quarreling.  He  said  that 
the  goods  which  Isaac  obtained  in  that  way 
he  would  find  would  cost  him  pretty  dear,  and 
he  immediately  prepared  for  war. 

In  this  transaction  there  is  no  question  that 
the  King  of  Cyprus,  though  wholly  wrong,  and 
guilty  of  a  real  and  inexcusable  violation  of  the 
rights  of  property,  had  yet  the  law  on  his  side. 
It  was  one  of  those  cases,  of  which  innumera- 
ble examples  have  existed  in  all  ages  of  the 
world,  where  an  act  which  is  virtually  the  rob- 


1190.]     CAMPAIGN  IN   CYPRUS.          173 


The  history  of  the  law  of  wrecks. 


bing  of  one  man  by  another  is  authorized  by 
law,  and  is  protected  by  legal  sanctions.  This 
rule — confiscating  property  wrecked — was  the 
general  law  of  Europe  at  this  time,  and  Rich- 
ard, of  all  men,  might  have  considered  himself 
estopped  from  objecting  to  it  by  the  fact  that  it 
was  the  law  in  England  as  well  as  every  where 
else.  By  the  ancient  common  law  of  England, 
all  wrecks  of  every  kind  became  the  property 
of  the  king.  The  severity  of  the  rule  had  been 
slightly  mitigated  a  few  reigns  before  Richard's 
day  by  a  statute  which  declared  that  if  any  liv- 
ing ihing  escaped  from  the  wreck,  even  were  it 
so  much  as  a  dog  or  a  cat,  that  circumstance 
saved  the  property  from  confiscation,  and  pre- 
served the  claim  of  the  owner  to  it.  With  this 
modification,  the  law  stood  in  England  until  a 
very  late  period,  that  all  goods  thrown  from 
wrecks  upon  the  shores  became  the  property  of 
the  crown,  and  it  was  not  until  comparatively 
quite  a  recent  period  that  an  English  judge  de- 
cided that  such  a  principle,  being  contrary  to 
justice  and  common  sense,  was  not  law;  and 
now  wrecked  property  is  restored  to  whom- 
soever can  prove  himself  to  be  the  owner,  on 
his  paying  for  the  expense  and  trouble  of  sav- 
ing it. 


174  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1190. 

Richard  having  landed,  Isaac  asks  a  truce.  Negotiating. 

On  receiving  the  demand  which  Richard  sent 
him,  the  King  of  Cyprus,  anticipating  difficulty, 
drew  up  his  galleys  in  order  of  battle  across 
the  harbor,  and  marched  troops  down  to  com- 
manding positions  on  the  shore,  wherever  he 
thought  there  might  be  any  danger  that  Rich- 
ard would  attempt  to  land.  Richard  very  soon 
brought  up  his  forces  and  advanced  to  attack 
him.  Isaac's  troops  retreated  as  Richard  ad- 
vanced. Finally  they  were  driven  back  with- 
out much  actual  contest  into  the  town,  and  Rich- 
ard then  brought  his  squadron  up  into  harbor 
and  landed.  Isaac,  seeing  how  much  stronger 
Richard  was  than  he,  did  not  attempt  any  seri- 
ous resistance,  but  retired  to  the  citadel.  From 
the  citadel  he  sent  out  a  flag  of  truce  demand- 
ing a  parley. 

Richard  granted  the  request,  and  an  inter- 
view took  place,  but  it  led  to  no  result.  Rich- 
ard found  that  Isaac  was  not  yet  absolutely  sub- 
dued. He  still  asserted  his  rights,  and  com- 
plained of  the  gross  wrong  which  Richard  was 
perpetrating  in  invading  his  dominions,  and 
seeking  a  quarrel  with  him  without  cause  ;  but 
the  effect  was  like  that  of  the  lamb  attempting 
to  resist  or  recriminate  the  wolf,  which,  far  from 
bringing  the  aggressor  to  reason,  only  awakens 


1190.J     CAMPAIGN  IN   CYPRUS.          175 

Richard  was  a  Norman,  not  an  Englishman. 

more  strongly  his  ferocity  and  rage.  Richard 
turned  toward  his  attendants,  and,  uttering  a 
profane  exclamation,  said  that  Isaac  talked  like 
a  fool  of  a  Briton. 

It  is  mentioned  as  a  remarkable  circumstance 
by  the  historians  that  Richard  spoke  these 
words  in  English,  and  it  is  said  that  this  was 
the  only  time  in  the  course  of  his  life  that  he 
ever  used  that  language.  It  may  seem  very 
strange  to  the  reader  that  an  English  king 
should  not  ordinarily  use  the  English  language. 
But,  strictly  speaking,  Richard  was  not  an  En- 
glish king.  He  was  a  Norman  king.  The 
whole  dynasty  to  which  he  belonged  were  Nor- 
man French  in  all  their  relations.  Normandy 
they  regarded  as  the  chief  seat  of  their  empire. 
There  were  their  principal  cities — there  their 
most  splendid  palaces.  There  they  lived  and 
reigned,  with  occasional  excursions  for  compar- 
atively brief  periods  across  the  Channel.  They 
considered  England  much  as  the  present  En- 
glish sovereigns  do  Ireland,  namely,  as  a  con- 
quered country,  which  had  become  a  possession 
and  a  dependency  upon  the  crown,  but  not  in 
any  sense  the  seat  of  empire,  and  they  utterly 
despised  the  native  inhabitants.  In  view  of 
these  facts,  the  wonder  that  Richard,  the  King 


176  KING  RICHARD   I.          [1190. 

Preparing  for  war.  Kine;  Richard's  battle-axe. 

of  England,  never  spoke  the  English  tongue  at 
once  disappears. 

The  conference  broke  up,  and  both  sides  pre- 
pared for  war.  Isaac,  finding  that  he  was  not 
strong  enough  to  resist  such  a  horde  of  invaders 
as  Richard  brought  with  him,  withdrew  from 
his  capital  and  retired  to  a  fortress  among  the 
mountains.  Richard  then  easily  took  posses- 
sion of  the  town.  A  moderate  force  had  been 
left  to  protect  it ;  but  Richard,  promising  his 
troops  plenty  of  booty  when  they  should'  get 
into  it,  led  the  way,  waving  his  battle-axe  in 
the  air. 

This  battle-axe  was  a  very  famous  weapon. 
It  was  one  which  Richard  had  caused  to  be 
made  for  himself  before  leaving  England,  and 
it  was  the  wonder  of  the  army  on  account  of 
its  size  and  weight.  The  object  of  a  battle-axe 
was  to  break  through  the  steel  armor  with 
which  the  knights  and  warriors  of  those  days 
were  accustomed  to  cover  themselves,  and  which 
was  proof  against  all  ordinary  blows.  Now 
Richard  was  a  man  of  prodigious  personal 
strength,  and,  when  fitting  out  his  expedition 
in  England,  he  caused  an  unusually  large  and 
heavy  battle-axe  to  be  made  for  himself,  by 
way  of  showing  his  men  what  he  could  do  in 


1190.]     CAMPAIGN  IN   CYPRUS.          177 

The  conquest  of  Limesol.  Signaling  for  the  queen's  galley. 

swinging  a  heavy  weapon.  The  head  of  this 
axe,  or  hammer,  as  perhaps  it  might  more  prop- 
erly have  been  called,  weighed  twenty  pounds, 
and  most  marvelous  stories  were  told  of  the 
prodigious  force  of  the  blow  that  Richard  could 
strike  with  it.  When  it  came  down  on  the 
head  of  a  steel-clad  knight  on  his  horse,  it  broke 
through  every  thing,  they  said,  and  crushed  man 
and  horse  both  to  the  ground. 

The  assault  on  Limesol  was  successful.  The 
people  made  but  a  feeble  resistance.  Indeed, 
they  had  no  weapons  which  could  possibly  en- 
able them  to  stand  a  moment  against  the  Cru- 
saders. They  were  half  naked,  and  their  arms 
were  little  better  than  clubs  and  stones.  They 
were,  in  consequence,  very  easily  driven  off  the 
ground,  and  Richard  took  possession  of  the  city. 

He  then  immediately  made  a  signal  for  Joan- 
na's galley — which,  during  all  this  time,  had 
remained  at  the  mouth  of  the  harbor — to  ad- 
vance. The  galley  accordingly  came  up,  and 
Joanna  and  the  princess  were  received  by  the 
whole  army  at  the  landing  with  loud  acclama- 
tions. They  were  immediately  conducted  into 
the  town,  and  there  were  lodged  splendidly  in 

the  best  of  Isaac's  palaces. 
7—12 


178  KING  RICHAKD  I.          [1190. 

The  terms  of  peace  which  Richard  offered  to  Isaac. 

But  the  contest  was  not  yet  ended.  The 
place  to  which  Isaac  had  retreated  was  a  city 
which  he  possessed  in  the  interior  of  the  island 
called  Nicosia.  From  this  place  he  sent  a  mes- 
senger to  Richard  to  propose  another  conference, 
with  a  view  of  attempting  once  more  to  agree 
upon  some  terms  of  peace.  Richard  agreed  to 
this,  and  a  place  of  meeting  was  appointed  on  a 
plain  near  Limesol,  the  port.  King  Isaac,  ac- 
companied by  a  suitable  number  of  attendants, 
repaired  to  this  place,  and  the  conference  was 
opened.  Richard  was  mounted  on  a  favorite 
Spanish  charger,  and  was  splendidly  dressed  in 
silk  and  gold.  He  assumed  a  very  lofty  bear- 
ing and  demeanor  toward  his  humbled  enemy, 
and  informed  him  in  a  very  summary  manner 
on  what  terms  alone  he  was  willing  to  make 
peace. 

"  I  will  make  peace  with  you,"  said  Richard, 
"on  condition  that  you  hold  your  kingdom 
henceforth  subject  to  me.  You  are  to  deliver1 
up  all  the  castles  and  strongholds  to  me,  and  do 
me  homage  as  your  acknowledged  sovereign. 
You  are  also  to  pay  me  an  ample  indemnity  in 
gold  for  the  damage  you  did  to  my  wrecked 
galleys.  I  shall  expect  you,  moreover,  to  join 
me  in  the  crusade.  You  must  accompany  me 


1190.J     CAMPAIGN   IN   CYPRUS.          179 

How  Richard  faithlessly  took  King  Isaac  a  prisoner. 

to  the  Holy  Land  with  not  less  than  five  hund- 
red foot-soldiers,  four  hundred  horsemen,  and 
one  hundred  full-armed  knights.  For  security 
that  you  will  faithfully  fulfill  these  conditions, 
you  must  put  the  princess,  your  daughter,  into 
my  hands  as  a  hostage.  Then,  in  case  your 
conduct  while  in  my  service  in  the  Holy  Land 
is  in  all  respects  perfectly  satisfactory,  I  will 
restore  your  daughter,  and  also  your  castles,  to 
you  on  my  return." 

Isaac's  daughter  was  a  very  beautiful  young 
princess.  She  was  extremely  beloved  by  her 
father,  and  was  highly  honored  by  the  people 
of  the  land  as  the  heir  to  the  crown. 

These  conditions  were  certainly  very  hard, 
but  the  poor  king  was  in  no  condition  to  resist 
any  demands  that  Richard  might  choose  to 
make.  With  much  distress  and  anguish  of 
mind,  he  pretended  to  agree  to  these  terms, 
though  he  secretly  resolved  that  he  could  not 
and  would  not  submit  to  them.  Richard  sus- 
pected his  sincerity,  and,  in  utter  violation  of 
all  honorable  laws  and  usages  of  war,  he  made 
him  a  prisoner,  and  set  guards  over  him  to 
watch  him  until  the  stipulations  should  be  car- 
ried into  effect.  Isaac  contrived  to  escape  from 
his  keepers  in  the  night,  and,  putting  himself  at 


180  KING   RICHARD  I.          [1190. 


King  Kicliard  subjugates  Cyprus. 


the  head  of  such  troops  as  he  could  obtain,  pre- 
pared for  war,  with  the  determination  to  resist 
to  the  last  extremity. 

Richard  now  resolved  to  proceed  at  once  to 
take  the  necessary  measures  for  the  complete 
subjugation  of  the  island.  He  organized  a  largo 
body  of  land  forces,  and  directed  them  to  ad- 
vance into  the  interior  of  the  country,  and  put 
down  all  resistance.  At  the  same  time,  he 
placed  himself  at  the  head  of  his  fleet,  and,  sail- 
ing round  the  island,  he  took  possession  of  all 
the  towns  and  fortresses  on  the  shore.  He  also 
seized  every  ship  and  every  boat,  large  and 
small,  that  he  could  find,  and  thus  entirely  cut 
off  from  King  Isaac  all  chance  of  escaping  by 
sea.  In  the  mean  time,  the  unhappy  monarch, 
with  the  few  troops  that  still  adhered  to  him, 
was  driven  from  place  to  place,  until  at  last  he 
was  completely  hemmed  in,  and  was  compelled 
to  fight  or  surrender.  They  fought.  The  re- 
sult was  what  might  have  been  expected.  Rich- 
ard was  victorious.  The  capital,  Limesol,  fell 
into  his  hands,  and  the  king  and  his  daughter 
were  taken  prisoners. 

The  princess  was  greatly  terrified  when  she 
was  brought  into  Richard's  presence.  She  fell 
on  her  knees  before  him,  and  cried, 


1190.]     CAMPAIGN   IN   CYPRUS.          181 

The  miserable  death  of  King  Isaac. 

"  My  lord  the  king,  have  mercy  upon  me !" 

Richard  put  forth  his  hand  to  lift  her  up, 
and  then  sent  her  to  Berengaria. 

"  I  give  her  to  you,'1  said  he,  "  for  an  attend- 
ant and  companion." 

The  king  was  almost  broken-hearted  at  hav- 
ing his  daughter  taken  away  from  him.  He 
threw  himself  at  Richard's  feet,  and  begged  him, 
with  the  most  earnest  entreaty,  to  restore  him 
his  child.  Richard  paid  no  heed  to  this  re- 
quest, but  ordered  Isaac  to  be  taken  away.  Soon 
after  this  he  sent  him  across  the  sea  to  Tripoli 
in  Syria,  and  there  shut  him  up  in  the  dungeon 
of  a  castle,  a  hopeless  prisoner.  The  unhappy 
captive  was  secured  in  his  dungeon  by  chains ; 
but,  in  honor  of  his  rank,  the  chains,  by  Rich- 
ard's directions,  were  made  of  silver,  overlaid 
with  gold.  The  poor  king  pined  in  this  place 
of  confinement  for  four  years,  and  then  died. 

As  soon  as  Isaac  had  gone,  and  things  had 
become  somewhat  settled.  Richard  found  him- 
self undisputed  master  of  Cyprus,  and  he  re- 
solved to  annex  the  island  to  his  own  domin- 
ions. 

"And  now,"  said  he  to  himself,  "it  will  be 
a  good  time  for  me  to  be  married." 

So,  after  making  the  necessary  arrangements 


182  KING  RICHARD   I.          [1190. 

Richard's  wedding  at  last  A  coronation. 


for  assembling  his  whole  fleet  again,  and  repair- 
ing the  damages  which  had  been  sustained  by 
the  storm,  he  began  to  make  preparations  for 
the  wedding.  Berengaria  made  no  objection  to 
this.  Indeed,  the  fright  which  she  had  suffer- 
ed at  sea  in  being  separated  from  Richard,  and 
the  anxiety  she  had  endured  when,  after  the 
storm,  she  gazed  in  every  direction  all  around 
the  horizon,  and  could  see  no  signs  in  any  quar- 
ter of  his  ship,  and  when,  consequently,  she 
feared  that  he  might  be  lost,  made  her  extreme- 
ly unwilling  to  be  separated  from  him  again. 

The  marriage  was  celebrated  with  great  pomp 
and  splendor,  and  many  feasts  and  entertain- 
ments, and  public  parades,  and  celebrations  fol- 
lowed, to  commemorate  the  event.  Among  the 
other  grand  ceremonies  was  a  coronation — a 
double  coronation.  Richard  caused  himself  to 
be  crowned  King  of  Cyprus,  and  Berengaria 
Queen  of  England  and  of  Cyprus  too. 

The  dress  in  which  Richard  appeared  on 
these  occasions  is  minutely  described.  He 
wore  a  rose-colored  satin  tunic,  which  was  fast- 
ened by  a  jeweled  belt  about  his  waist.  Over 
this  was  a  mantle  of  striped  silver  tissue,  bro- 
caded with  silver  half-moons.  He  wore  an  el- 
egant and  very  costly  sword  too.  The  blade 


1190.]     CAMPAIGN   IN   CYPRUS.          183 

The  king's  accoutrement.  Favelle. 

was  of  Damascus  steel,  the  hilt  was  of  gold, 
and  the  scabbard  was  of  silver,  richly  engraved 
in  scales.  On  his  head  he  wore  a  scarlet  bon- 
net, brocaded  in  gold  with  figures  of  animals. 
He  bore  in  his  hand  what  was  called  a  trun- 
cheon, which  was  a  sort  of  sceptre,  very  splen- 
didly covered  and  adorned. 

He  had  an  elegant  horse — a  Spanish  charger 
— and  wherever  he  went  this  horse  was  led  be- 
fore him,  with  the  bits,  and  stirrups,  and  all  the 
metallic  mountings  of  the  saddle  and  bridle  in 
gold.  The  crupper  was  adorned  with  two  gold- 
en lions,  figured  with  their  paws  raised  in  the 
act  of  striking  each  other.  Richard  obtained 
another  horse  in  Cyprus  among  the  spoils  that 
he  acquired  there,  and  which  afterward  became 
his  favorite.  His  name  was  Favelle,  though  in 
some  of  the  old  annals  he  is  called  Faunelle. 
This  horse  acquired  great  fame  by  the  strength 
and  courage,  and  also  the  great  sagacity,  that  he 
displayed  in  the  various  battles  that  he  was  en- 
gaged in  with  his  master.  Indeed,  at  last,  he 
became  quite  a  historical  character. 

Richard  himself  was  a  tall  and  well-formed 
man,  and  altogether  a  very  fine-looking  man, 
and  in  this  costume,  with  his  yellow  curls  and 


184  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1190. 


The  appearance  of  Berengaria. 


bright  complexion,  he  appeared,  they  said,  a 
perfect  model  of  military  and  manly  grace. 

There  is  a  representation  of  Berengaria  ex- 
tant which  is  supposed  to  show  her  as  she  ap- 
peared at  this  time.  Her  hair  is  parted  in  the 
middle  in  front,  and  hangs  down  in  long  tresses 
behind.  It  is  covered  with  a  veil,  open  on  each 
side,  like  a  Spanish  mantilla.  The  veil  is  fast- 
ened to  her  head  by  a  royal  diadem  resplend- 
ent with  gold  and  gems,  and  is  surmounted  with 
a  fleur  de  lis,  with  so  much  foliage  added  to  it 
as  to  give  it  the  appearance  of  a  double  crown, 
in  allusion  to  her  being  the  queen  both  of  Cy- 
prus and  of  England. 

The  whole  time  occupied  by  these  transac- 
tions in  Cyprus  was  only  about  a  month,  and 
now,  since  every  thing  had  been  finished  to  his 
satisfaction,  Richard  began  to  think  once  more 
of  prosecuting  his  voyage. 


1190.]         VOYAGE  TO  ACRE.  185 

The  different  names  of  Acre.  Order  of  St.  John. 


CHAPTER   XL 
VOYAGE  TO  ACRE. 

THE  great  landing-point  for  expeditions  of 
Crusaders  to  the  Holy  Land  was  Acre,  or 
Akka,  as  it  is  often  written.  The  town  was 
originally  known  as  Ptolemais,  and  the  situa- 
tion of  it  may  be  found  designated  on  ancient 
maps  under  that  name.  The  Turks  called  it 
Akka,  which  name  the  French  call  Acre.  It 
was  also,  after  a  certain  time,  called  St.  Jean 
d'Acre.  It  received  this  name  from  a  famous 
military  order  that  was  founded  in  the  Holy 
Land  in  the  Middle  Ages,  called  the  Knights  of 
St.  John. 

The  origin  of  the  order  was  as  follows:  About 
a  hundred  years  before  the  time  of  Richard's 
crusade,  a  company  of  pious  merchants  from 
Naples,  who  went  to  Jerusalem,  took  pity,  while 
they  were  there,  on  the  pilgrims  who  came  there 
to  visit  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and  who,  being 
poor,  and  very  insufficiently  provided  for  the 
journey,  suffered  a  great  many  privations  and 
hardships.  These  merchants  accordingly  built 


186  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1190. 

The  Hospitalers.  Knights  of  St.  John. 

and  endowed  a  monastery,  and  made  it  the  duty 
of  the  monks  to  receive  and  take  care  of  a  cer- 
tain number  of  these  pilgrims. 

They  named  the  establishment  the  Monas- 
tery of  St.  John,  and  the  monks  themselves 
were  called  Hospitalers,  their  business  being 
to  receive  and  show  hospitality  to  the  pilgrims. 
So  the  monks  were  sometimes  designated  as 
the  Hospitalers  and  sometimes  the  Brothers  of 
St.  John. 

Other  travelers,  who  came  to  Jerusalem  from 
time  to  time,  seeing  this  monastery,  and  observ- 
ing the  good  which  it  was  the  means  of  effect- 
ing for  the  poor  pilgrims,  became  interested  in 
its  welfare,  and  made  grants  and  donations  to  it, 
by  which,  in  the  course  of  fifty  years,  it  became 
much  enlarged.  At  length,  in  process  of  time, 
a  military  order  was  connected  with  it.  The 
pilgrims  needed  protection  in  going  to  and  fro, 
as  well  as  food,  shelter,  and  rest  at  the  end  of 
their  journey,  and  the  military  order  was  form- 
ed to  furnish  this  protection.  The  knights  of 
this  order  were  called  Knights  Hospitalers,  and 
sometimes  Knights  of  St.  John.  The  institu- 
tion continued  to  grow,  and  finally  the  seat  of 
it  was  transferred  to  Acre,  which  was  a  much 
more  convenient  place  for  giving  succor  to  the 


1190.]         VOYAGE  TO  ACEE.  187 

Origin  of  the  name  of  St  Jean  d'Acre.  The  order. 


pilgrims,  and  also  for  lighting  the  Saracens,  who 
were  the  great  enemies  that  the  pilgrims  had  to 
fear.  From  this  time  the  institution  was  called 
St.  John  of  Acre,  as  it  was  before  St.  John  of 
Jerusalem,  and  finally  its  power  and  influence 
became  so  predominant  in  the  town  that  the 
town  itself  was  generally  designated  by  the 
name  of  the  institution,  and  it  has  been  called 
St.  Jean  d'Acre  to  this  day. 

The  order  became  at  last  very  numerous. 
Great  numbers  of  persons  joined  it  from  all  the 
nations  of  Europe.  They  organized  a  regular 
government.  They  held  fortresses  and  towns, 
and  other  territorial  possessions  of  considerable 
value.  They  had  a  fleet,  and  an  army,  and  a 
rich  treasury.  In  a  word,  they  became,  as  it 
were,  a  government  and  a  nation. 

The  persons  belonging  to  the  order  were  di- 
vided into  three  classes: 

1.  Knights. — These  were  the  armed   men. 
They  fought  the  battles,  defended  the  pilgrims, 
managed  the  government,  and  performed  all  oth- 
er similar  functions. 

2.  Chaplains. — These  were  the  priests  and 
monks.     They  conducted  worship,  and  attend- 
ed, in   general,  to  all  the  duties   of  devotion. 
They  were  the  scholars,  too,  and  acted  as  sec- 


188  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1190. 


A  description  of  the  town  of  Acre. 


retaries  and  readers,  whenever  such  duties  were 
required. 

3.  Servitors. — The  duty  of  the  servitors  was, 
as  their  name  imports,  to  take  charge  of  the 
buildings  and  grounds  belonging  to  the  order, 
to  wait  upon  the  sick,  and  accompany  pilgrims, 
and  to  perform,  in  general,  all  other  duties  per- 
taining to  their  station. 

The  town  of  Acre  stood  on  the  shore  of  the 
sea,  and  was  very  strongly  fortified.  The  walls 
and  ramparts  were  very  massive — altogether 
too  thick  and  high  to  be  demolished  or  scaled 
by  any  means  of  attack  known  in  those  days. 
The  place  had  been  in  possession  of  the  Knights 
of  St.  John,  but  in  the  course  of  the  wars  be- 
tween the  Saracens  and  the  Crusaders  that  had 
prevailed  before  Richard  came,  it  had  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  the  Saracens,  and  now  the  Cru- 
saders were  besieging  it,  in  hopes  to  recover 
possession.  They  were  encamped  in  thousands 
on  a  plain  outside  the  town,  in  a  beautiful  sit- 
uation overlooking  the  sea.  Still  farther  back 
among  the  mountains  were  immense  hordes  of 
Saracens,  watching  an  opportunity  to  come  down 
upon  the  plain  and  overwhelm  the  Christian 
armies,  while  they,  on  the  other  hand,  were 
making  continued  assaults  upon  the  town,  in 


1190.]          VOYAGE  TO  ACRE.  191 

Philip  before  Acre.  The  siege. 

hopes  of  carrying  it  by  storm,  before  their  ene- 
mies on  the  mountains  could  attack  them.  Of 
course,  the  Crusaders  were  extremely  anxious 
to  have  Richard  arrive,  for  they  knew  that  he 
Avas  bringing  with  him  an  immense  re-enforce- 
ment. 

Philip,  the  French  king,  had  already  arrived, 
and  he  exerted  himself  to  the  utmost  to  take 
the  town  before  Richard  should  come.  But  he 
could  not  succeed.  The  town  resisted  all  the 
attempts  he  could  make  to  storm  it,  and,  in  the 
mean  time,  his  position  and  that  of  the  other 
Crusaders  in  the  camp  was  becoming  very  crit- 
ical, on  account  of  the  immense  numbers  of  Sar- 
acens in  the  mountains  behind  them,  who  were 
gradually  advancing  their  posts  and  threaten- 
ing to  surround  the  Christians  entirely.  Philip, 
therefore,  and  the  forces  joined  with  him,  were 
beginning  to  feel  very  anxious  to  see  Richard's 
ships  drawing  near,  and  from  their  encampment 
on  the  plain  they  looked  out  over  the  sea,  and 
watched  day  after  day,  earnestly  in  hopes  that 
they  might  see  the  advanced  ships  of  Richard's 
fleet  coming  into  view  in  the  offing. 

In  the  mean  time,  Richard,  having  sailed  from 
Cyprus,  was  coming  on,  though  he  was  delayed 
on  his  way  by  an  occurrence  which  he  greatly 


192  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1190. 

Chasing  a  Saracen  vessel.  Desperation. 

gloried  in,  deeming  it  doubtless  a  very  brilliant 
exploit.  The  case  was  this : 

In  sailing  along  with  his  squadron  between 
Cyprus  and  the  main  land,  he  suddenly  fell  in 
with  a  ship  of  very  large  size.  At  first  Rich- 
ard and  his  men  wondered  what  ship  it  could 
be.  It  was  soon  evident  that,  whatever  she 
was,  she  was  endeavoring  to  escape.  Richard 
ordered  his  galleys  to  press  on,  and  he  soon 
found  that  the  strange  ship  was  full  of  Sara- 
cens. He  immediately  ordered  his  men  to  ad- 
vance and  board  her,  and  he  declared  to  his  sea- 
men that  if  they  allowed  her  to  escape  he  would 
crucify  them. 

The  Saracens,  seeing  that  there  was  no  pos- 
sibility of  escape,  and  having  no  hope  of  mercy 
if  they  fell  into  Richard's  hands,  determined  to 
scuttle  the  ship,  and  to  sink  themselves  and  the 
vessel  together.  They  accordingly  cut  holes 
through  the  bottom  as  well  as  they  could  with, 
hatchets,  and  the  water  began  to  pour  in.  In 
the  mean  time,  Richard's  galleys  had  surround- 
ed the  vessel,  and  a  dreadful  combat  ensued. 
Both  parties  fought  like  tigers.  The  Crusaders 
were  furious  to  get  on  board  before  the  ship 
should  go  down,  and  the  Saracens,  though  they 
had  no  expectation  of  finally  defending  them- 


1190.]         VOYAGE  TO   ACRE.  193 

The  terrible  Greek  fire  which  the  Saracens  used. 

selves  against  their  enemies,  still  hoped  to  keep 
them  back  until  it  should  be  too  late  for  them 
to  obtain  any  advantage  from  their  victory. 

For  a  time  they  were  quite  successful  in  their 
resistance,  chiefly  by  means  of  what  was  called 
Greek  fire.  This  Greek  fire  was  a  celebrated 
means  of  warfare  in  those  days,  and  was  very 
terrible  in  its  nature  and  effects.  It  is  not 
known  precisely  what  it  was,  or  how  it  was 
made.  It  was  an  exceedingly  combustible  sub- 
stance, and  was  to  be  thrown,  on  fire,  at  the  en- 
emy ;  and  such  was  its  nature,  that  when  once  in 
flames  nothing  could  extinguish  it ;  and,  besides 
the  heat  and  burning  that  it  produced,  it  threw 
out  great  volumes  of  poisonous  and  stifling  va- 
pors, which  suffocated  all  that  came  near.  The 
men  threw  it  sometimes  in  balls,  sometimes  on 
the  ends  of  darts  and  arrows,  where  it  was  en- 
veloped in  flax  or  tow  to  keep  it  in  its  place. 
It  burned  fiercely  and  furiously  wherever  it  fell. 
Even  water  did  not  extinguish  it,  and  it  was 
said  that  in  this  combat  the  sea  all  around  the 
Saracens'  ship  seemed  on  fire,  and  the  decks  of 
the  galleys  that  attacked  them  were  blazing 
with  it  in  every  direction.  Great  numbers  of 
Richard's  men  were  killed  by  it. 

But  the  superiority  of  numbers  on  Richard's 
7—13 


194  KING   KICHARD   I.          [1190. 

The  ship  is  taken.  A  massacre.  Kichard's  defense. 

side  was  too  great,  and  after  a  time  the  Sara- 
cens were  subdued,  before  the  ship  had  admitted 
water  enough  through  the  scuttlings  to  carry 
her  down.  Richard's  men  poured  in  on  board 
of  her  in  great  numbers.  They  immediately 
proceeded  to  massacre  or  throw  overboard  the 
men  as  fast  as  possible,  and  to  seize  the  stores 
and  transfer  them  to  their  own  ships.  They 
also  did  all  they  could  to  stop  the  leaks,  so  as 
to  delay  the  sinking  of  the  ship  as  long  as  pos- 
sible. They  had  time  to  transfer  to  their  own 
vessels  nearly  all  the  valuable  part  of  the  cargo, 
and  to  kill  and  drown  all  the  men.  Out  of 
twelve  or  fifteen  hundred,  only  about  thirty- 
five  were  spared. 

When,  afterward,  public  sentiment  seemed 
inclined  to  condemn  this  terrible  and  inexcusa- 
ble massacre,  Richard  defended  himself  by  say- 
ing that  he  found  on  board  the  vessel  a  number 
of  jars  containing  certain  poisonous  reptiles, 
which  he  alleged  the  Saracens  were  going  to 
take  to  Acre,  and  there  let  them  loose  near  the 
Crusaders'  camp  to  bite  the  soldiers,  and  that 
men  who  could  resort  to  so  barbarous  a  mode 
of  warfare  as  this  deserved  no  quarter.  How- 
ever this  may  be,  the  poor  Saracens  received  no 
quarter.  It  might  be  supposed  that  Richard 


1190.]         VOYAGE   TO  ACRE.  195 

King  i.'i  •!>  u   Irttty.  The  sinking  ship. 

deserved  some  credit  tor  his  humanity  in  saving 
the  thirty -five.  But  his  object  in  saving  these 
was  not  to  show  mercy,  but  to  gain  ransom- 
money.  These  thirty-five  were  the  emirs,  or 
other  officers  of  the  Saracens,  or  persons  who 
looked  as  if  they  might  be  rich  or  have  rich 
friends.  When  they  reached  the  shore,  Rich- 
ard fixed  upon  a  certain  sum  of  money  for  each 
of  them,  and  allowed  them  to  send  word  to  their 
friends  that  if  they  would  raise  that  money  and 
send  it  to  Richard,  he  would  set  them  at  liber- 
ty. A  great  proportion  of  them  were  thus  af- 
terward ransomed,  and  Richard  realized  from 
this  source  quite  a  large  sum. 

When  Richard's  soldiers  found  that  the  time 
for  the  captured  ship  to  sink  was  drawing  nigh, 
they  abandoned  her,  leaving  on  board  every 
thing  that  they  had  not  been  able  to  save,  and, 
withdrawing  to  a  safe  distance,  they  saw  her  go 
down.  The  sea  all  around  her  was  covered 
with  the  bodies  of  the  dead  and  dying,  and  also 
with  bales  of  merchandise,  broken  weapons, 
fragments  of  the  wreck,  and  with  the  flickering 
and  exhausted  remnants  of  the  Greek  fire. 

The  fleet  then  got  under  way  again,  and  pur- 
sued its  course  to  Acre. 


196  KING  EICHARD  I.          [1190. 


The  besieging  army  at  Acre. 


CHAPTER  XII. 
THE   ARRIVAL  AT  ACRE. 

WHILE  Richard  was  thus,  with  his  fleet, 
drawing  near  to  Acre,  the  armies  of  the 
Crusaders  that  were  besieging  the  town  had 
been  for  some  time  gradually  getting  into  a  very 
critical  situation.  This  army  was  made  up  of 
a  great  many  different  bodies  of  troops,  that  had 
come  in  the  course  of  years  from  all  parts  of 
Europe  to  recover  the  Holy  Land  from  the  pos- 
session of  the  unbelievers.  There  were  Ger- 
mans, and  French,  and  Normans,  and  Italians, 
and  people  from  the  different  kingdoms  of  Spain, 
with  knights,  and  barons,  and  earls,  and  bish- 
ops, and  archbishops,  and  princes,  and  other 
dignitaries  of  all  kinds  without  number.  With 
such  a  heterogeneous  mass  there  could  be  no 
common  bond,  nor  any  general  and  central  au- 
thority. They  spoke  a  great  variety  of  lan- 
guages, and  were  accustomed  to  very  different 
modes  of  warfare ;  and  the  several  orders  of 
knights,  and  the  different  bodies  of  troops,  were 
continually  getting  involved  in  dissensions  axis- 


1190.]        AERIVAL  AT  ACRE.  197 

Motives  of  the  Saracens.  Motives  of  the  Christians. 

ing  from  the  jealousies  and  rivalries  which  they 
bore  to  each  other.  The  enemy,  on  the  other 
hand,  were  united  under  the  command  of  one 
great  and  powerful  Saracen  leader  named  Sal- 
adin. 

There  was  another  great  difference  between 
the  Crusaders  and  the  Saracens  which  was 
greatly  to  the  advantage  of  the  latter.  The 
Saracens  were  fighting  simply  to  deliver  their 
country  from  these  bands  of  invaders.  Thus 
their  object  was  one.  If  any  part  of  the  army 
achieved  a  success,  the  other  divisions  rejoiced 
at  it,  for  it  tended  to  advance  them  all  toward 
the  common  end  that  all  had  in  view.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  chief  end  and  aim  of  the  Cru- 
saders was  to  get  glory  to  themselves  in  the 
estimation  of  friends  and  neighbors  at  home, 
and  of  Europe  in  general.  It  is  true  that  they 
desired  to  obtain  this  glory  by  victories  over 
the  unbelievers  and  the  conquest  of  the  Holy 
Land,  but  these  last  objects  were  the  means 
and  not  the  end.  The  end,  in  their  view,  was 
their  own  personal  glory.  The  consequence 
was,  that  while  the  Saracens  would  naturally  all 
rejoice  at  an  advantage  gained  over  the  enemy 
by  any  portion  of  their  army,  yet  in  the  camp 
of  the  Crusaders,  if  one  body  of  knights  per- 


198  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1190. 

Envyings  and  jealousy  among  the  besiegers. 

formed  a  great  deed  of  strength  or  bravery 
which  was  likely  to  attract  attention  in  Europe, 
the  rest  were  apt  to  be  disappointed  and  vexed 
instead  of  being  pleased.  They  were  envious 
of  the  fame  which  the  successful  party  had  ac- 
quired. In  a  word,  when  an  advantage  was 
gained  by  any  particular  body  of  troops,  the 
rest  did  not  think  of  the  benefit  to  the  common 
cause  which  had  thereby  been  secured,  but  only 
of  the  danger  that  the  fame  acquired  by  those 
who  gained  it  might  eclipse  or  outshine  their 
own  renown. 

The  various  orders  of  knights  and  the  com- 
manders of  the  different  bodies  of  troops  vied 
with  each  other,  not  only  in  respect  to  the  ac- 
quisition of  glory,  but  also  in  the  elegance  of 
their  arms,  the  splendor  of  their  tents  and  ban- 
ners, the  beauty  and  gorgeous  caparisons  of  the 
horses,  and  the  pomp  and  parade  with  which 
they  conducted  all  their  movements  and  opera- 
tions. The  camp  was  full  of  quarrels,  too, 
among  the  great  leaders  in  respect  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  places  in  the  Holy  Land  which  had 
been  conquered  in  previous  campaigns.  These 
places,  as  fast  as  they  had  been  taken,  had  been 
made  principalities  and  kingdoms,  to  give  titles 
of  rank  to  the  crusaders  who  had  taken  them ; 


1190.]        ARRIVAL  AT  ACRE.  199 

King  of  Jerusalem.  A  common  danger  makes  a  common  cause. 

and,  though  the  places  themselves  had  in  many 
instances  been  lost  again,  and  given  up  to  the 
Saracens,  the  titles  remained  to  be  quarreled 
about  among  the  Crusaders.  There  was  partic- 
ularly a  great  quarrel  at  this  time  about  the  ti- 
tle of  Kyig  of  Jerusalem.  It  was  a  mere  emp- 
ty title,  for  Jerusalem  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
Saracens,  but  there  were  twenty  very  powerful 
and  influential  claimants  to  it,  each  of  whom 
manoeuvred  and  intrigued  incessantly  with  all 
the  other  knights  and  commanders  in  the  army 
to  gain  partisans  to  his  side.  Thus  the  camp 
of  the  Crusaders,  from  one  cause  and  another, 
had  become  one  universal  scene  of  rivalry,  jeal- 
ousy, and  discord. 

There  was  a  small  approach  toward  a  great- 
er degree  of  unity  of  feeling  just  before  the  time 
of  Richard's  arrival,  produced  by  the  common 
danger  to  which  they  began  to  see  they  were 
exposed.  They  had  been  now  two  years  be- 
sieging Acre,  and  had  accomplished  nothing. 
All  the  furious  attempts  that  they  had  made  to 
storm  the  place  had  been  unsuccessful.  The 
walls  were  too  thick  and  solid  for  the  battering- 
rams  to  make  any  serious  impression  upon 
them,  and  the  garrison  within  were  so  numer- 
ous and  so  well  armed,  and  they  hurled  down 


200  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1190. 

The  terrible  loss  of  life  in  the  siege  of  Acre. 

such  a  tremendous  shower  of  darts,  javelins, 
stones,  and  other  missiles  of  every  kind  upon 
all  who  came  near,  that  immense  numbers  of 
those  who  were  brought  up  near  the  walls  to- 
work  the  engines  were  killed,  while  the  besieged 
themselves,  being  protected  by  the  battlements 
on  the  walls,  were  comparatively  safe. 

In  the  course  of  the  two  years  during  which 
the  siege  had  now  been  going  on,  bodies  of 
troops  from  all  parts  of  Europe  had  been  con- 
tinually coming  and  going,  and  as  in  those  days 
there  was  far  less  of  system  and  organization  in 
the  conduct  of  military  affairs  than  there  is  now, 
the  camp  was  constantly  kept  in  a  greater  or 
less  degree  of  confusion,  so  that  it  is  impossible 
to  know  with  certainty  how  many  were  en- 
gaged, and  what  the  actual  loss  of  life  had  been. 
The  lowest  estimate  is  that  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  men  perished  before  Acre  during 
this  siege,  and  some  historians  calculate  the 
loss  at  five  hundred  thousand.  The  number 
of  deaths  was  greatly  increased  by  the  plague, 
which  prevailed  at  one  time  among  the  troops,, 
and  committed  fearful  ravages.  One  thing, 
however,  must  be  said,  in  justice  to  the  reckless 
and  violent  men  who  commanded  these  bands, 
and  that  is,  that  they  did  not  send  their  poor, 


1190.]        ARRIVAL  AT  ACRE.  201 

The  unwieldy  armor  of  the  knights. 

helpless  followers,  the  common  soldiers,  into  a 
danger  which  they  kept  out  of  themselves.  It 
was  a  point  of  honor  with  them  to  take  the  fore- 
most rank,  and  to  expose  thehiselves  fully  at 
all  times  to  the  worst  dangers  of  the  combat. 
It  is  true  that  the  knights  and  nobles  were  bet- 
ter protected  by  their  armor  than  the  soldiers. 
They  were  generally  covered  with  steel  from 
head  to  foot,  and  so  heavily  loaded  with  it  were 
they,  that  it  was  only  on  horseback  that  they 
could  sustain  themselves  in  battle  at  all.  In- 
deed, it  was  said  that  if  a  full-armed  knight,  in 
those  days,  were,  from  any  accident,  unhorsed, 
his  armor  was  so  heavy  that,  if  he  were  thrown 
down  upon  the  ground  in  his  fall,  he  could  not 
possibly  get  up  again  without  help. 

Notwithstanding  this  protection,  however,  the 
knights  and  commanders  exposed  themselves  so 
much  that  they  suffered  in  full  proportion  with 
the  rest.  It  was  estimated  that  during  the 
siege  there  fell  in  battle,  or  perished  of  sickness 
or  fatigue,  eighteen  or  twenty  archbishops  and 
bishops,  forty  earls,  and  no  less  than  five  hund- 
red barons,  all  of  whose  names  are  recorded. 
So  they  obtained  what  they  went  for — com- 
memoration in  history.  Whether  the  reward 
was  worth  the  price  they  paid  for  it,  in  sacrific' 


202  KING   KICHARD   I.          [1190. 

King  Richard  received  by  the  besieging  army. 

ing  every  thing  like  happiness  and  usefulness  in 
life,  and  throwing  themselves,  after  a  few  short 
months  of  furious  and  angry  warfare,  into  a 
bloody  grave,  is  a  very  serious  question. 

As  soon  as  Richard's  fleet  appeared  in  view, 
the  whole  camp  was  thrown  into  a  state  of  the 
wildest  commotion.  The  drums  were  beat,  the 
trumpets  were  sounded,  and  flags  and  banners 
without  number  were  waved  in  the  air.  The 
troops  were  paraded,  and  when  the  ships  arrived 
at  the  shore,  arid  Richard  and  his  immediate 
attendants  and  followers  landed,  they  were  re- 
ceived by  the  commanders  of  the  Crusaders' 
army  on  the  beach  with  the  highest  honors, 
while  the  soldiers  drawn  up  around  filled  the 
air  with  long  and  loud  acclamations. 

Berengaria  had  come  from  Cyprus,  not  in 
Richard's  ship,  although  she  was  now  married 
to  him.  She  had  continued  in  her  own  galley, 
and  was  still  under  the  charge  of  her  former 
guardian,  Stephen  of  Turnham.  That  ship  had 
been  fitted  up  purposely  for  the  use  of  the  queen 
and  the  princess,  and  the  arrangements  on  board 
were  more  suitable  for  the  accommodation  of 
ladies  than  were  those  of  Richard's  ship,  which 
being  strictly  a  war  vessel,  and  intended  always 


1190.J        ARRIVAL  AT  ACRE.  203 

Berengaria  a  bride.  Philip's  conciliation. 

to  be  foremost  in  every  fight,  was  arranged 
solely  with  a  view  to  the  purposes  of  battle, 
and  was  therefore  not  a  very  suitable  place  for 
a  bride. 

Berengaria  and  Joanna  landed  very  soon  after 
Richard.  Philip  was  a  little  piqued  at  the  sud- 
denness with  which  Richard  had  married  anoth- 
er lady,  so  soon  after  the  engagement  with  Alice 
had  been  terminated ;  but  he  considered  how  ur- 
gent the  necessity  was  that  he  should  now  be 
on  good  terms  with  his  ally,  and  so  he  con- 
cealed his  feelings,  and  received  Berengaria  him- 
self as  she  came  from  her  ship,  and  assisted 
her  to  land. 


204  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1191. 

Richard's  arrogance  produces  dissension  in  the  camp. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
DIFFICULTIES. 

IT  was  but  a  very  short  time  after  Richard 
had  landed  his  forces  at  Acre,  and  had  taken 
his  position  in  the  camp  on  the  plain  before  the 
city,  before  serious  difficulties  began  to  arise 
between  him  and  Philip.  This,  indeed,  might 
have  been  easily  foreseen.  It  was  perfectly  cer- 
tain that,  so  soon  as  Richard  should  enter  the 
camp  of  the  Crusaders,  he  would  immediately 
assume  such  airs  of  superiority,  and  attempt  to 
lord  it  over  all  the  other  kings  and  princes 
there  in  so  reckless  and  dictatorial  a  manner, 
that  there  could  be  no  peace  with  him  except  in 
entire  submission  to  his  will. 

This  was,  accordingly,  soon  found  to  be  the 
case.  He  began  to  quarrel  with  Philip  in  a 
very  short  time,  notwithstanding  the  sincere 
desire  that  Philip  manifested  to  live  on  good 
terms  with  him.  Of  course,  the  knights  and 
barons,  and,  after  a  time,  the  common  soldiers  in 
the  two  armies,  took  sides  with  their  respective 
sovereigns.  One  great  source  of  trouble  was, 
that  Richard  claimed  to  be  the  feudal  sovereign 


1191.]  DIFFICULTIES.  205 

The  progress  of  the  quarrel  between  Richard  and  Philip. 

of  Philip  himself,  on  account  of  some  old  claims 
that  he  advanced,  as  Duke  of  Normandy,  over 
the  French  kingdom.  This  pretension  Philip, 
of  course,  would  not  admit,  and  the  question 
gave  rise  to  endless  disputes  and  heartburnings. 
Presently  the  quarrel  extended  to  other  por- 
tions of  the  army  of  the  Crusaders,  and  the 
different  orders  of  knights  and  bodies  of  sol- 
diers espoused,  some  one  side  and  some  the 
other.  The  Knights  Hospitalers,  described  in 
a  former  chapter,  who  had  now  become  a  nu- 
merous and  very  powerful  force,  took  Richard's 
side.  Indeed,  Richard  was  personally  popular 
among  the  knights  and  barons  generally,  on  ac- 
count of  his  prodigious  strength  and  the  many 
feats  of  reckless  daring  that  he  performed. 
When  he  went  out  every  body  flocked  to  see 
him,  and  the  whole  camp  was  full  of  the  stories 
that  were  told  of  his  wonderful  exploits.  He 
made  use  of  the  distinction  which  he  thus  ac- 
quired as  a  means  of  overshadowing  Philip's 
influence  and  position.  This  Philip,  of  course, 
resented,  and  then  the  English  said  that  he  was 
envious  of  Richard's  superiority ;  and  they  at- 
tempted to  lay  the  whole  blame  of  the  quarrel 
on  him,  attributing  the  unfriendly  feeling  sim- 
ply to  what  they  considered  his  weak  and  un* 


206  KING   RICHAKD   I.          [1191. 

The  English  and  French  armieu  no  longer  co-operate. 

generous  jealousy  of  a  more  successful  and  for- 
tunate rival. 

However  this  may  be,  the  disagreement  soon 
became  so  great  that  the  two  kings  could  no 
longer  co-operate  together  in  fighting  against 
their  common  enemy. 

Philip  planned  an  assault  against  the  town. 
He  was  going  to  take  it  by  storm.  Richard 
did  not  join  him  in  this  attempt.  He  made  it 
an  excuse  that  he  was  sick  at  the  time.  In- 
deed, he  was  sick  not  long  after  his  arrival  at 
Acre,  but  whether  his  illness  really  prevented 
his  co-operating  witli  Philip  in  the  assault,  or 
was  only  made  use  of  as  a  pretext,  is  not  quite 
certain.  At  any  rate,  Richard  left  Philip  to 
make  the  assault  alone,  and  the  consequence 
was  that  the  French  troops  were  driven  back 
from  the  walls  with  great  loss.  Richard  secret- 
ly rejoiced  at  this  discomfiture,  but  Philip  was 
in  a  great  rage. 

Not  long  afterward  Richard  planned  an  as- 
sault, to  be  executed  with  his  troops  alone ;  for 
Philip  now  stood  aloof,  and  refused  to  aid  him. 
Richard  had  no  objection  to  this ;  indeed,  he 
rejoiced  in  an  opportunity  to  show  the  world 
that  he  could  succeed  in  accomplishing  a  feat 
of  arms  after  Philip  had  attempted  it  and  failed. 


1191.]  DIFFICULTIES.  209 

Preparations  for  an  assault.  A  repulse.  Reflection*. 

So  he  brought  forward  the  engines  that  he 
had  caused  to  be  built  at  Messina,  and  set  them 
up.  He  organized  his  assaulting  columns  and 
prepared  for  the  attack.  He  made  the  scaling- 
ladders  ready,  and  provided  his  men  with  great 
stores  of  ammunition ;  and  when  the  appointed 
day  at  length  arrived,  he  led  his  men  on  to  the 
assault,  fully  confident  that  he  was  about  to 
perform  an  exploit  that  would  fill  all  Europe 
with  his  fame. 

But,  unfortunately  for  him,  he  was  doomed 
to  disappointment.  His  men  were  driven  back 
from  the  walls.  The  engines  were  overthrown 
and  broken  to  pieces,  or  set  on  fire  by  flaming 
javelins  sent  from  the  walls,  and  burned  to  the 
ground.  Vast  numbers  of  his  soldiers  were 
killed,  and  at  length,  all  hope  of  success  having 
disappeared,  the  troops  were  drawn  off,  discom- 
iited  and  excessively  chagrined. 

The  reflections  which  would  naturally  follow 
in  the  minds  of  Philip  and  Richard,  as  they  sat 
in  their  tents  moodily  pondering  on  these  fail- 
ures, led  them  to  think  that  it  would  be  better 
for  them  to  cease  quarreling  with  each  other, 
and  to  combine  their  strength  against  the  com- 
mon enemy.  Indeed,  their  situation  was  now 
fast  becoming  very  critical,  inasmuch  as  every 
7—14 


210  KING  RICHARD   I.          [1191. 

Dangers  of  the  army.  A  nominal  friendship  between  real  enemie?. 

day  during  which  the  capture  of  the  town  was 
delayed  the  troops  of  Saladin  on  the  mountains 
around  them  were  gradually  increasing  in  num- 
bers, and  gaining  in  the  strength  of  their  posi- 
tion, and  they  might  at  any  time  now  be  ex- 
pected to  come  pouring  down  upon  the  plain  in 
such  force  as  entirely  to  overwhelm  the  whole 
army  of  the  Crusaders. 

So  Richard  and  Philip  made  an  agreement 
with  each  other  that  they  would  thenceforth 
live  together  on  better  terms,  and  endeavor  to 
combine  their  strength  against  the  common  en- 
emy, instead  of  wasting  it  in  petty  quarrels 
with  each  other. 

From  this  time  things  went  on  much  better 
in  the  camp  of  the  allies,  while  yet  there  was 
no  real  or  cordial  friendship  between  Richard 
and  Philip,  or  any  of  their  respective  partisans. 
Richard  attempted  secretly  to  entice  away 
knights  and  soldiers  from  Philip's  service  by 
-offering  them  more  money  or  better  rewards 
than  Philip  paid  them,  and  Philip,  when  he 
discovered  this,  attempted  to  retaliate  by  en- 
deavoring to  buy  off,  in  the  same  manner,  some 
of  Richard's  men.  In  a  word,  the  fires  of  the 
feud,  though  covered  up  and  hidden,  were  burn- 
ing away  underneath  as  fiercely  as  ever. 


1191.]       THE  FALL  OF  ACRE.  211 

The  distress  of  the  besieged  city.         Famine.         Disappointed  hopes. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
THE  FALL  OF  ACRE. 

A  LTHOUGH  the  allies  failed  to  reduce 
•£^_  Acre  by  assault,  the  town  was  at  last  com- 
pelled to  submit  to  them  through  the  distress 
and  misery  to  which  the  inhabitants  and  the 
garrison  were  finally  reduced  by  famine.  They 
bore  these  sufferings  as  long  as  they  could,  but 
the  time  arrived  at  last  when  they  could  be  en- 
dured no  longer.  They  hoped  for  some  relief 
which  was  to  have  been  sent  to  them  by  sea 
from  Cairo,  but  it  did  not  come.  They  also 
hoped,  day  after  day,  and  week  after  week,  that 
Saladin  would  be  strong  enough  to  come  down 
from  the  mountains,  and  break  through  the  camp 
of  the  Crusaders  on  the  plain  and  rescue  them. 
But  they  were  disappointed.  The  Crusaders 
had  fortified  their  camp  in  the  strongest  man- 
ner, and  then  they  were  so  numerous  and  so 
fully  armed  that  Saladin  thought  it  useless  to 
make  any  general  attack  upon  them  with  the 
force  that  he  had  under  his  command. 

The  siege  had  continued  two  years  when 


212  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1191. 

The  various  methods  of  warfare.  Undermining  the  walls. 

Philip  and  Richard  arrived.  They  came  early 
in  the  spring  of  1191.  Of  course,  their  arrival 
greatly  strengthened  the  camp  of  the  besiegers, 
and  went  far  to  extinguish  the  remaining  hopes 
of  the  garrison.  The  commanders,  however, 
did  not  immediately  give  up,  but  held  out  some 
months  longer,  hoping  every  day  for  the  arrival 
of  the  promised  relief  from  Cairo.  In  the  mean 
time,  they  continued  to  endure  a  succession  of 
the  most  vigorous  assaults  from  the  Crusaders, 
of  which  very  marvelous  tales  are  told  in  the 
romantic  narratives  of  those  times.  In  these 
narratives  we  have  accounts  of  the  engines 
which  Richard  set  up  opposite  the  walls,  and 
of  the  efforts  made  by  the  besieged  to  set  them 
on  fire ;  of  Richard's  working,  himself,  like  any 
common  soldier  in  putting  these  engines  togeth- 
er, and  in  extinguishing  the  flames  when  they 
were  set  on  fire ;  of  a  vast  fire-proof  shed  which 
was  at  last  contrived  to  cover  and  protect  the 
engines — the  covering  of  the  roof  being  made 
fire-proof  with  green  hides  ;  and  of  a  plan  which 
was  finally  adopted,  when  it  was  found  that  the 
walls  could  not  be  beaten  down  by  battering- 
rams,  of  undermining  them  with  a  view  of  mak- 
ing them  tumble  down  by  their  own  weight. 
In  this  case,  the  workmen  who  undermined  the 


1191.]       THE   FALL  OF  ACRE.  213 

The  effect  on  the  walls.  A  spy  in  the  city. 

walls  were  protected  at  their  work  by  sheds 
built  over  them,  and,  in  order  to  prevent  the 
walls  from  falling  upon  them  while  they  were 
mining,  they  propped  them  up  with  great  beams 
of  wood,  so  placed  that  they  could  make  fires 
under  the  beams  when  they  were  ready  for  the 
walls  to  fall,  and  then  have  time  to  retreat  to 
a  safe  distance  before  they  should  be  burned 
through.  This  plan,  however,  did  not  succeed ; 
for  the  walls  were  so  prodigiously  thick,  and 
the  blocks  of  stone  of  which  they  were  composed 
were  so  firmly  bound  together,  that,  instead  of 
falling  into  a  mass  of  ruins,  as  Richard  had  ex- 
pected, when  the  props  had  been  burned  through, 
they  only  settled  down  bodily  on  one  side  into 
the  excavation,  and  remained  nearly  as  good,  for 
all  purposes  of  defense,  as  ever. 

It  was  said  that  during  the  siege  Richard  and 
Philip  obtained  a  great  deal  of  information  in 
respect  to  the  plans  of  the  Saracens  through 
the  instrumentality  of  some  secret  friend  with- 
in the  city,  who  contrived  to  find  means  of  con- 
tinually sending  them  important  intelligence. 
This  intelligence  related  sometimes  to  the  de- 
signs of  the  garrison  in  respect  to  sorties  that 
they  were  going  to  make,  or  to  the  secret  plans 
that  they  had  formed  for  procuring  supplies  of 


214  KING   RICHARD   I.  [1191. 


The  letters  which  came  on  arrows. 


provisions  or  other  succor ;  at  other  times  they 
related  to  the  movements  and  designs  of  Sala- 
din,  who  was  outside  among  the  mountains,  and 
especially  to  the  attacks  that  he  was  contem- 
plating on  the  allied  camp.  This  intelligence 
was  communicated  in  various  ways.  The  prin- 
cipal method  was  to  send  a  letter  by  means  of 
an  arrow.  An  arrow  frequently  came  down  in 
some  part  of  the  allied  camp,  which,  on  being 
examined,  was  found  to  have  a  letter  wound 
about  the  shaft.  The  letter  was  addressed  to 
Richard,  and  was,  of  course,  immediately  car- 
ried to  his  tent.  It  was  always  found  to  con- 
tain very  important  information  in  respect  to 
the  condition  or  plans  of  the  besieged.  If  a 
sortie  was  intended  from  the  city,  it  stated  the 
time  and  the  place,  and  detailed  all  the  arrange- 
ments, thus  enabling  Richard  to  be  on  his 
guard.  So,  if  the  Saracens  were  projecting  an 
attack  on  the  lines  from  within,  the  whole  plan 
of  it  was  fully  explained,  and,  of  course,  it  would 
then  be  very  easy  for  Richard  to  frustrate  it. 
The  writer  of  the  letters  said  that  he  was  a 
Christian,  but  would  not  say  who  he  was,  and 
the  mystery  was  never  explained.  It  is  quite 
possible  that  there  is  very  little  truth  in  the 
whole  story. 


1191.]       THE   FALL  OF  ACRE.  215 

A  flag  of  truce.  Term?  proposed  by  the  Saracens. 

At  all  events,  though  the  assaults  which  the 
allies  made  against  the  walls  and  bulwarks  of 
the  town  were  none  of  them  wholly  successful, 
the  general  progress  of  the  siege  was  altogether 
in  their  favor,  and  against  the  poor  Saracens 
shut  up  within  it.  The  last  hope  which  they 
indulged  was  that  some  supplies  would  come  to 
them  by  sea ;  but  Richard's  fleet,  which  remain- 
ed at  anchor  off  the  town,  blockaded  the  port  so 
completely  that  there  was  no  possibility  that 
any  thing  could  get  in.  The  last  lingering  hope 
was,  therefore,  at  length  abandoned,  and  when 
the  besieged  found  that  they  could  endure  their 
horrible  misery  no  longer,  they  sent  a  flag  of 
truce  out  to  the  camp  of  the  besiegers,  with  a 
proposal  to  negotiate  terms  of  surrender. 

Then  followed  a  long  negotiation,  with  dis- 
plays of  haughty  arrogance  on  one  side,  and 
heart-broken  and  bitter  humiliation  on  the  oth- 
er. The  Saracens  first  proposed  what  they 
considered  fair  and  honorable  terms,  and  Phil- 
ip was  disposed  to  accept  them ;  but  Richard 
rejected  them  with  scorn.  After  a  vain  attempt 
at  resistance,  Philip  was  obliged  to  yield,  and 
to  allow  his  imperious  and  overbearing  ally  to 
have  his  own  way.  The  Saracens  wished  to 
stipulate  for  the  lives  of  the  garrison,  but  Rich- 


216  KING  RICHARD   I.          [1191. 

Richard's  exactions  and  his  threats.  The  convention, 

ard  refused.  He  told  them  they  must  submit 
unconditionally ;  and,  for  his  part,  he  did  not 
care,  he  said,  whether  they  yielded  now  or  con- 
tinued the  contest.  He  should  soon  be  in  pos- 
session of  the  city,  at  any  rate,  and  if  they  held 
out  until  he  took  it  by  storm,  then,  of  course,  it 
would  be  given  up  to  the  unbridled  fury  of  the 
soldiers,  who  would  mercilessly  massacre  every 
living  thing  they  should  find  in  it,  and  seize  ev- 
ery species  of  property  as  plunder.  This,  he 
declared,  was  sure  to  be  the  end  of  the  siege, 
arid  that  very  soon,  unless  they  chose  to  sub- 
mit. The  Saracens  then  asked  what  terms  he 
required  of  them.  Richard  stated  his  terms, 
and  they  asked  for  a  little  time  to  consider 
them  and  to  confer  with  Saladin,  who,  being 
the  sultan,  was  their  sovereign,  and  without  his 
approval  they  could  not  act. 

So  the  negotiation  was  opened,  and,  after  va- 
rious difficulties  and  delays,  a  convention  was 
finally  agreed  upon.  The  terms  were  these : 

I.  The  city  was  to  be  surrendered  to  the  al- 
lied armies,  and  all  the  arms,  ammunition,  mil- 
itary stores,  and  property  of  all  kinds  which  it 
contained  were  to  be  forfeited  to  the  conquer- 
ors. 


1191.]       THE  FALL  OF  ACRE.  217 

The  ransom  of  the  captives.  Hostages. 

II.  The  troops  and  the  people  of  the  town 
were  to  be  allowed  to  go  free  on  the  payment 
of  a  ransom. 

III.  The  ransom  by  which  the  besieged  pur- 
chased their  lives  and  liberty  was  to  be  made 
up  as  follows : 

1.  The  wood  of  the  cross  on  which  Christ 
was  crucified,  which  was  alleged  to  be  in  Sala- 
din's  possession,  was  to  be  restored. 

2.  Saladin  was  to  set  at  liberty  the  Chris- 
tian captives  which  he  had  taken  in  the  course 
of  the  war  from  various  armies  of  Crusaders, 
and  which  he  now  held  as  prisoners.      The 
number  of  these  prisoners  was  about  fifteen 
hundred. 

3.  He  was  to  pay  two  hundred  thousand 
pieces  of  gold. 

IV.  Richard  was  to  retain  a  large  body  of 
men — it  was  said  that  there  were  about  five 
thousand  in  all — consisting  of  soldiers  of  the 
garrison  or  inhabitants  of  the  town,  as  hostages 
for  the  fulfillment  of  these  conditions.     These 
men  were  to  be  kept  forty  days,  or,  if  at  the 
end  of  that  time  Saladin  had  not  fulfilled  the 
conditions  of  the  surrender,  they  were  all  to  be 
put  to  death. 


218  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1191. 

Saladin's  assent.  Richard  enters  Acre  in  triumph. 

Perhaps  Saladin  agreed  to  these  terms,  under 
the  pressure  of  dire  necessity,  compelled  as  he 
was  to  assent  to  whatever  Richard  might  pro- 
pose by  the  dreadful  extremity  to  which  the 
town  was  reduced,  without  sufficiently  consid- 
ering whether  he  would  be  really  able  to  fulfill 
his  promises.  At  any  rate,  these  were  the 
promises  that  he  made;  and  as  soon  as  the 
treaty  was  duly  executed,  the  gates  of  Acre 
were  opened  to  the  conquerors,  while  Saladin 
himself  broke  up  his  encampment  on  the  mount- 
ains, and  withdrew  his  troops  farther  into  the 
interior  of  the  country. 

Although  the  treaty  was  made  and  executed 
in  the  name  of  both  the  kings,  Richard  had 
taken  into  his  hands  almost  the  whole  conduct 
of  the  negotiation,  and  now  that  the  army  was 
about  to  take  possession  of  the  town,  he  consid- 
ered himself  the  conqueror  of  it.  He  entered 
with  great  parade,  assigning  to  Philip  altogeth- 
er a  secondary  part  in  the  ceremony.  He  also 
took  possession  of  the  principal  palace  of  the 
place  as  his  quarters,  and  there  established  him- 
self with  Berengaria  and  Joanna,  while  he  left 
Philip  to  take  up  his  residence  wherever  he 
could.  The  flags  of  both  monarchs  were,  how- 
ever, raised  upon  the  walls,  and  so  far  Philip'* 


1191.]       THE  FALL  OF  ACRE.  219 

The  Archduke  of  Austria's  banner.  Philip  in  trouble. 

claim  to  a  joint  sovereignty  over  the  place  was 
acknowledged.  But  none  of  the  other  princes 
or  potentates  who  had  been  engaged  in  the 
siege  were  allowed  to  share  this  honor.  One 
of  them — the  Archduke  of  Austria — ventured  to 
raise  his  banner  on  one  of  the  towers,  but  Rich- 
ard pulled  it  down,  tore  it  to  pieces,  and  tram- 
pled it  under  his  feet. 

This,  of  course,  threw  the  archduke  into  a 
dreadful  rage,  and  most  of  the  other  smaller 
princes  in  the  army  shared  the  indignation  that 
he  felt  at  the  grasping  disposition  which  Rich- 
ard manifested,  and  at  his  violent  and  domineer- 
ing behavior.  But  they  were  helpless.  Rich- 
ard was  stronger  than  they,  and  they  were  com- 
pelled to  submit. 

As  for  Philip,  he  had  long  since  begun  to  find 
his  situation  extremely  disagreeable.  He  was 
very  sensitive  to  the  overbearing  and  arrogant 
treatment  which  he  received,  but  he  either  had 
not  the  force  of  character  or  the  physical 
strength  to  resist  it.  Now,  since  Acre  had 
fallen,  he  found  his  situation  worse  than  ever. 
There  was  no  longer  any  enemy  directly  before 
them,  and  it  was  only  the  immediate  presence 
of  an  enemy  that  had  thus  far  kept  Richard 
within  any  sort  of  bounds.  Philip  saw  now 


220  KING  EICHARD   I.          [1191. 

I'hilip's  secret  plans.  Title  of  King  of  Jerusalem. 

plainly  that  if  he  were  to  remain  in  the  Holy 
Land,  and  attempt  to  continue  the  war,  he  could 
only  do  it  by  occupying  an  altogether  second- 
ary and  subordinate  position,  and  to  this  he 
thought  it  was  wholly  inconsistent  with  his 
rights  and  dignities  as  an  independent  sover- 
eign to  descend  ;  so  he  began  to  revolve  se- 
cretly in  his  mind  how  he  could  honorably  with- 
draw from  the  expedition  and  return  home. 

While  things  were  in  this  state,  a  great  quar- 
rel, which  had  for  a  long  time  been  gradually 
growing  up  in  the  camp  of  the  Crusaders,  but 
had  been  restrained  and  kept,  in  some  degree, 
subdued  by  the  excitement  of  the  siege,  broke 
out  in  great  violence.  The  question  was  who 
should  claim  the  title  of  King  of  Jerusalem. 
Jerusalem  was  at  this  time  in  the  hands  of  the 
Saracens,  so  that  the  title  was,  for  the  time  be- 
ing at  least,  a  mere  empty  name.  Still,  there 
was  a  very  fierce  contention  to  decide  who 
should  possess  it.  It  seems  that  it  had  origi- 
nally descended  to  a  certain  lady  named  Sibylla. 
It  had  come  down  to  her  as  the  descendant  and 
heir  of  a  very  celebrated  crusader  named  God- 
frey of  Bouillon,  who  was  the  first  king  of  Je- 
rusalem. He  became  King  of  Jerusalem  by 
having  headed  the  army  of  Crusaders  that  first 


1191.]       THE   FALL  OF  ACRE.  221 

Sibylla.         Guy  of  Lusignan.          Isabella.          Conrad  of  Montferrat 

conquered  it  from  the  Saracens.  This  was 
about  a  hundred  years  before  the  time  of  the 
taking  of  Acre.  The  knights  and  generals  of 
his  army  elected  him  King  of  Jerusalem  a  short 
time  after  he  had  taken  it,  and  the  title  descend- 
ed from  him  to  Sibylla. 

Sibylla  was  married  to  a  famous  knight 
named  Guy  of  Lusignan,  and  he  claimed  the 
title  of  King  of  Jerusalem  in  right  of  his  wife. 
This  claim  was  acknowledged  by  the  rest  of  the 
Crusaders  so  long  as  Sibylla  lived,  but  at  length 
she  died,  and  then  many  persons  maintained 
that  the  crown  descended  to  her  sister  Isabella. 
Isabella  was  married  to  a  knight  named  Hum- 
phrey of  Huron,  who  had  not  strength  or  reso- 
lution enough  to  assert  his  claims.  Indeed,  he 
had  the  reputation  of  being  a  weak  and  timid 
man.  Accordingly,  another  knight,  named  Con- 
rad of  Montferrat,  conceived  the  idea  of  taking 
his  place.  He  contrived  to  seize  and  bear  away 
the  Lady  Isabella,  and  afterward  to  procure  a  di- 
vorce for  her  from  her  husband,  and  then,  final- 
ly, he  married  her  himself.  He  now  claimed 
to  be  King  of  Jerusalem  in  right  of  Isabella, 
while  Guy  of  Lusignan  maintained  that  his  right 
to  the  crown  still  continued.  This  was  a  nice 
question  to  be  settled  by  such  a  rude  horde  of 


222  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1191. 

The  positions  of  Richard  and  Philip  respecting  the  title. 

fighting  men  as  these  Crusaders  were,  and  some 
took  one  side  of  it  and  some  the  other,  accord- 
ing as  their  various  ideas  on  the  subject  of 
rights  of  succession  or  their  personal  partiali- 
ties inclined  them. 

Now  it  happened  that  Philip  and  Richard 
had  early  taken  opposite  sides  in  respect  to  this 
affair,  as  indeed  they  did  on  almost  every  other 
subject  that  came  before  them.  Guy  of  Lu- 
signan  had  gone  to  visit  Richard  while  he  was 
in  Cyprus,  and  there,  having  had  the  field  all  to 
himself,  had  told  his  story  in  such  a  way,  and 
also  made  such  proposals  and  promises,  as  to 
enlist  Richard  in  his  favor.  Richard  there 
agreed  that  he  would  take  Guy's  part  in  the 
controversy,  and  he  furnished  him  with  a  sum 
of  money  at  that  time  to  relieve  his  immediate 
necessities.  He  did  this  with  a  view  of  secur- 
ing Guy,  as  one  of  his  partisans  and  adherents, 
in  any  future  difficulties  in  which  he  might  be 
involved  in  the  course  of  the  campaign. 

On  the  other  hand,  when  Philip  arrived  at 
Acre,  which  it  will  be  recollected  was  some  time 
before  Richard  came,  the  friends  and  partisans 
of  Conrad,  who  were  there,  at  once  proceeded  to 
lay  Conrad's  case  before  him,  and  they  so  far 
succeeded  as  to  lead  Philip  to  commit  himself 


1191.]      THE  FALL  OF  ACRE.  223 

One  of  Richard's  compromises.  Philip  announces  his  return. 

on  that  side.  Thus  the  foundation  of  a  quar- 
rel on  this  subject  was  laid  before  Richard  land- 
ed. The  quarrel  was  kept  down,  however,  dur- 
ing the  progress  of  the  siege,  but  when  at  length 
the  town  was  taken  it  broke  out  anew,  and  the 
whole  body  of  the  Crusaders  became  greatly 
agitated  with  it.  At  length  some  sort  of  com- 
promise was  effected,  or  at  least  what  was  call- 
ed a  compromise,  but  really,  so  far  as  the  sub- 
stantial interests  involved  were  concerned,  Rich- 
ard had  it  all  his  own  way.  This  affair  still 
further  alienated  Philip's  mind  from  his  ally, 
and  made  him  more  desirous  than  ever  to  aban- 
don the  enterprise  and  return  home. 

Accordingly,  after  the  two  kings  had  been  es- 
tablished in  Acre  a  short  time,  Philip  announced 
that  he  was  sick,  and  unable  any  longer  to  pros- 
ecute the  war  in  person,  and  that  he  was  intend- 
ing to  return  home.  When  this  was  announced 
to  Richard,  he  exclaimed, 

"  Shame  on  him  !  eternal  shame !  and  on  all 
his  kingdom,  if  he  goes  off  and  abandons  us 
now  before  the  work  is  done." 

The  work  which  Richard  meant  to  have  done 
was  the  complete  recovery  of  the  Holy  Land 
from  the  possession  of  the  Saracens.  The  tak- 
ing of  Acre  was  a  great  step,  but,  after  all,  it  was 


224  KING  RICHARD   I.          [119L 

Richard's  objections  to  Philip's  return. 

only  a  beginning.  The  array  of  the  allies  was 
now  to  march  into  the  interior  of  the  country 
to  pursue  Saladin,  in  hopes  of  conquering  him 
in  a  general  battle,  and  so  at  length  gaining 
possession  of  the  whole  country  and  recovering 
Jerusalem.  Richard,  therefore,  was  very  indig- 
nant with  Philip  for  being  disposed  to  abandon 
the  enterprise  while  the  work  to  be  accomplish- 
ed was  only  just  begun. 

There  was  another  reason  why  Richard  was 
alarmed  at  the  idea  of  Philip's  returning  home. 

"He  will  take  advantage  of  my  absence," 
said  he,  "  and  invade  my  dominions,  and  so, 
when  I  return,  I  shall  find  that  I  have  been 
robbed  of  half  my  provinces." 

So  Richard  did  all  he  could  to  dissuade  Phil- 
ip from  returning;  but  at  length,  finding  that  he 
could  produce  no  impression  on  his  mind,  he 
yielded,  and  gave  a  sort  of  surly  consent  to  the 
arrangement.  "Let  him  go,"  said  he,  "if  he 
will.  Poor  man !  He  is  sick,  he  says,  and  I 
suppose  he  thinks  he  can  not  live  unless  he  can 
see  Paris  again." 

Richard  insisted,  however,  that  if  Philip  went 
he  should  leave  his  army  behind,  or,  at  least,  a 
large  portion  of  it;  so  Philip  agreed  to  leave 
ten  thousand  men.  These  men  were  to  be  un- 


1191.]       THE   FALL  OF  ACRE.  225 

Philip's  oath  to  Richard.  Disapprobation  of  King  Philip's  course. 

der  the  command  of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  one 
of  Philip's  most  distinguished  nobles.  The 
duke,  however,  himself  was  to  be  subject  to  the 
orders  of  Richard. 

Richard  also  exacted  of  Philip  a  solemn  oath, 
that  when  he  had  returned  to  France  he  would 
not,  in  any  way,  molest  or  invade  any  of  his 
— that  is,  Richard's — possessions,  or  make  war 
against  any  of  his  vassals  or  allies.  This  agree- 
ment was  to  continue  in  force,  and  to  be  binding 
upon  Philip  until  forty  days  after  Richard  should 
have  himself  returned  from  the  Crusade. 

These  things  being  all  thus  arranged,  Philip 
began  to  make  his  preparations  openly  for  em- 
barking on  his  voyage  home.  The  knights  and 
barons,  and  indeed  the  whole  body  of  the  army, 
considered  Philip's  leaving  them  as  a  very  cul- 
pable abandonment  of  the  enterprise,  and  they 
crowded  around  the  place  of  embarkation  when 
he  went  on  board  his  vessel,  and  manifested 
their  displeasure  with  ill-suppressed  hisses  and 
groans. 

The  time  which  had  been  fixed  upon  for  Sal- 
adin  to  comply  with  the  stipulations  of  the  sur- 
render was  forty  days,  and  this  period  was  now, 

after  Philip  had  gone,  drawing  rapidly  to  a  close. 
7—15 


226  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1191. 

Saladin  is  unable  to  fulfill  his  promises.  Brutality  of  Richard. 

Saladin  found  that  he  could  not  fulfill  the  con- 
ditions to  which  he  had  agreed.  As  the  day 
approached  he  made  various  excuses  and  apol- 
ogies  to  Richard,  and  he  also  sent  him  a  num- 
ber of  costly  presents,  hoping,  perhaps,  in  that 
way  to  propitiate  his  favor,  and  prevent  his  in- 
sisting on  the  execution  of  the  dreadful  penalty 
which  had  been  agreed  upon  in  case  of  default, 
namely,  the  slaughter  of  the  five  thousand  hos- 
tages which  had  been  left  in  his  hands. 

The  time  at  last  expired,  and  the  treaty  had 
not  been  fulfilled.  Richard,  without  waiting 
even  a  day,  determined  that  the  hostages  should 
be  slain.  A  rumor  was  set  in  circulation  that 
Saladin  had  put  to  death  all  his  Christian  pris- 
oners. This  rumor  was  false,  but  it  served  its 
purpose  of  exasperating  the  minds  of  the  Cru- 
saders, so  as  to  bring  the  soldiers  up  well  to  the 
necessary  pitch  of  ferocity  for  executing  so  ter- 
rible a  work.  The  slaughter  of  five  thousand 
defenseless  and  unresisting  men,  in  cold  blood, 
is  a  very  hard  work  for  even  soldiers  to  per- 
form, and  if  such  a  work  is  to  be  done,  it  is  al- 
ways necessary  to  contrive  some  means  of  heat- 
ing the  blood  of  the  executioners  in  order  to 
insure  the  accomplishment  of  it.  In  this  case, 
the  rumor  that  Saladin  had  murdered  his  Chris- 


1191.]       THE   FALL  OF  ACRE.  227 


tian  prisoners  was  more  than  sufficient.  It 
wrought  up  the  allied  army  to  such  a  phrensy 
that  the  soldiers  assembled  in  crowds,  and  ri- 
otously demanded  that  the  Saracen  prisoners 
should  be  given  up  to  them,  in  order  that  they 
might  have  their  revenge. 

Accordingly,  at  the  appointed  time,  Richard 
gave  the  command,  and  the  whole  body  of  the 
prisoners  were  brought  out,  and  conducted  to 
the  plain  beyond  the  lines  of  the  encampment. 
A  few  were  reserved.  These  were  persons  of 
rank  and  consideration,  who  were  to  be  saved 
in  hopes  that  they  might  have  wealthy  friends 
at  home  who  would  pay  money  to  ransom  them. 
The  rest  were  divided  into  two  portions,  one  of 
which  was  committed  to  the  charge  of  the  Duke 
of  Burgundy,  and  the  other  Richard  led  him- 
self. The  dreadful  processions  formed  by  these 
wretched  men  were  followed  by  the  excited  sol- 
diery that  were  to  act  as  their  executioners, 
who  came  crowding  on  in  throngs,  waving  their 
swords,  and  filling  the  air  with  their  ferocious 
threats  and  imprecations,  and  exulting  in  the 
prospect  of  having  absolutely  their  fill  of  the 
pleasure  of  killing  men,  without  any  danger  to 
themselves  to  mar  the  enjoyment  of  it. 

The  massacre  was  carried  into  effect  in  the 


KING  RICHARD   I.          [1191. 

Richard's  exultation.  Supernatural  approval. 

fullest  possible  manner ;  and  after  the  men  were 
killed,  the  Christians  occupied  themselves  in 
cutting  open  their  bodies  to  find  jewels  and 
other  articles  of  value,  which  they  pretended 
that  the  poor  captives  had  swallowed  in  order 
to  hide  them  from  their  enemies. 

Instead  of  being  ashamed  of  this  deed,  Rich- 
ard gloried  in  it.  He  considered  it  a  wonder- 
ful proof  of  his  zeal  for  the  cause  of  Christ. 
The  writers  of  the  time  praised  it.  The  Sara- 
cens, they  maintained,  were  the  enemies  of  God, 
and  whoever  slew  them  did  God  service.  One 
of  the  historians  of  the  time  says  that  angels 
from  heaven  appeared  to  Richard  at  the  time, 
and  urged  him  to  persevere  to  the  end,  crying 
aloud  to  him  while  the  massacre  was  going  on, 
"Kill!  kill!  Spare  them  not!" 

It  seems  to  us  at  the  present  day  most  amaz- 
ing that  the  minds  of  men  could  possibly  be  so 
perverted  as  to  think  that  in  performing  such 
deeds  as  this  they  were  sustaining  the  cause  of 
the  meek  and  gentle  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  and 
were  the  objects  of  approval  and  favor  with 
God,  the  common  father  of  us  all,  who  has  de- 
clared that  he  has  made  of  one  blood  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth,  to  live  together  in  peace 
and  unity. 


1191.]  PROGRESS  OF  THE  CRUSADE.  229 

Richard  leaving  Acre.  Modern  warfare. 


CHAPTER   XV. 
PROGRESS   OF  THE   CRUSADE. 

THE  first  thing  which  Richard  had  now  to 
do,  before  commencing  a  march  into  the 
interior  of  the  country,  was  to  set  every  thing 
in  order  at  Acre,  and  to  put  the  place  in  a  good 
condition  of  defense,  in  case  it  should  be  at- 
tacked while  he  was  gone.  The  walls  in  many 
places  were  to  be  repaired,  particularly  where 
they  had  been  undermined  by  Richard's  sap- 
pers, and  in  many  places,  too,  they  had  been 
broken  down  or  greatly  damaged  by  the  action 
of  the  battering-rams  and  other  engines.  In 
the  case  of  sieges  prosecuted  by  means  of  ar- 
tillery in  modern  times,  the  whole  interior  of 
the  town,  as  well  as  the  walls,  is  usually  bat- 
tered dreadfully  by  the  shot  and  shells  that  are 
thrown  over  into  it.  A  shell,  which  is  a  hol- 
low ball  of  iron  sometimes  more  than  a  foot  in 
diameter,  and  with  sides  two  or  three  inches 
thick,  and  filled  within  with  gunpowder,  is 
thrown  from  a  mortar,  at  a  distance  of  some 
miles,  high  into  the  air  over  the  town,  whence 


230  KING  RICHARD   I.          [1191. 

»  Contrast  between  modern  and  ancient  weapons. 

it  descends  into  the  streets  or  among  the  houses. 
The  engraving  represents  the  form  of  the  mor- 
tar, and  the  manner  in  which  the  shell  is  thrown, 
from  it,  though  in  this  case  the  shell  represented 
is  directed,  not  against  the  town,  but  is  thrown 
from  a  battery  under  the  walls  of  the  town 
against  the  camp  or  the  trenches  of  the  besiegers. 
These  shells,  of  course,  when  they  descend, 
come  crashing  through  the  roofs  of  the  build- 
ings on  which  they  strike,  or  bury  themselves 
in  the  ground  if  they  fall  in  the  street,  and  then 
burst  with  a  terrific  explosion.  A  town  that 
has  been  bombarded  in  a  siege  becomes  some- 
times almost  a  mere  mass  of  ruins.  Often  the 
bursting  of  a  shell  sets  a  building  on  fire,  and 
then  the  dreadful  effects  of  a  conflagration  are 
added  to  the  horrors  of  the  scene.  In  ancient 
sieges,  on  the  other  hand,  none  of  these  terrible 
agencies  could  be  employed.  The  battering- 
rams  could  touch  nothing  but  the  walls  and  the 
outer  towers,  and  it  was  comparatively  very  lit- 
tle injury  that  they  could  do  to  these.  The 
javelins  and  arrows,  and  other  light  missiles — 
even  those  that  were  thrown  from  the  military 
engines,  if  by  chance  they  passed  over  the  walls 
and  entered  the  town,  could  do  no  serious  mis- 
chief to  the  buildings  there.  The  worst  that 


1191.]  PROGEESS  OF  THE  CRUSADE.  233 

Purifying  the  places  of  pagan  worship.  Revelings  of  the  soldiery. 

could  happen  from  them  was  the  wounding  or 
killing  of  some  person  in  the  streets  who  might, 
just  at  that  moment,  be  passing  by. 

In  repairing  Acre,  therefore,  and  putting  it 
again  in  a  perfect  condition  for  defense,  nothing 
but  the  outer  walls  required  attention.  Rich- 
ard set  companies  of  workmen  upon  these,  and 
before  long  every  thing  was  restored  as  it  was 
before.  There  were  then  some  ceremonies  to 
be  performed  within  the  town,  to  purify  it  from 
the  pollution  which  it  had  sustained  by  having 
been  in  the  possession  of  the  Saracens.  All 
the  Christian  churches  particularly,  and  the  mon- 
asteries and  other  religious  houses,  were  to  be 
thus  restored  from  the  desecration  which  they 
had  undergone,  and  consecrated  anew  to  the 
service  of  Christ. 

In  the  mean  time,  while  these  works  and  per- 
formances were  going  on,  the  soldiers  gave  them- 
selves up  to  indulgences  of  every  kind.  Great 
stores  of  wine  were  found  in  the  place,  which 
were  bestowed  upon  the  troops,  and  the  streets, 
day  and  night,  were  filled  with  riotous  revelings. 
The  commanders  themselves — the  knights  and 
barons — and  all  the  other  men  of  rank  that  per- 
tained to  the  army,  fell  into  the  same  way,  and 
they  were  very  unwilling  that  the  time  should 


234  KING  RICHARD   I.          [1191. 

The  object  of  the  Crusades  was  the  recovery  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre. 

come  when  they  were  to  leave  such  a  place  of 
security  and  indulgence,  and  take  the  field  again 
for  a  march  in  pursuit  of  Saladin. 

At  length,  however,  the  time  arrived  when 
the  march  must  be  commenced.  Richard  had 
learned,  by  means  of  scouts  and  spies  which  he 
sent  out,  that  Saladin  was  moving  to  the  south- 
ward and  westward — retreating,  in  fact,  toward 
Jerusalem,  which  was,  of  course,  the  great  point 
that  he  wished  to  defend.  That,  indeed,  was 
the  great  point  of  attack,  for  the  main  object 
which  the  Crusaders  proposed  to  themselves  in 
invading  Palestine  was  to  get  possession  of  the 
sepulchre  where  Christ  was  buried  at  Jerusa- 
lem. The  recovery  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  was 
the  watchword ;  and  among  all  the  people  who 
were  watching  the  progress  of  the  enterprise 
with  so  much  solicitude,  and  also  among  the 
Crusaders  themselves,  the  progress  that  was 
made  was  valued  just  in  proportion  as  it  tended 
to  the  accomplishment  of  this  end. 

Richard  set  apart  a  sufficient  number  of  troops 
for  a  garrison  to  hold  and  defend  Acre,  and  then, 
on  taking  a  census  of  the  remainder  of  his  force, 
found  that  he  had  thirty  thousand  men  to  march 
with  in  pursuit  of  Saladin.  He  arranged  this 
force  in  five  divisions,  and  placed  each  under  the 


1191.]  PROGRESS  OF  THE  CRUSADE.  235 

Order  of  the  march  from  Acre.  Jaffa. 

command  of  a  competent  general.  There  were 
two  very  celebrated  bodies  of  knights  that  oc- 
cupied positions  of  honor  in  this  march.  They 
were  the  Knights  Templars  and  the  Knights  of 
St.  John,  or  Hospitalers,  the  order  that  has  been 
described  in  a  previous  chapter  of  this  volume. 
The  Templars  led  the  van  of  the  army,  and  the 
Hospitalers  brought  up  the  rear.  .  The  march 
was  commenced  on  the  twenty-second  of  Au- 
gust, which  was  not  far  from  two  months  from 
the  time  that  Acre  was  surrendered. 

The  course  which  the  army  was  to  take  was 
at  first  to  follow  the  sea-shore  toward  the  south- 
ward to  Jaffa,  a  port  nearly  opposite  to  Jerusa- 
lem. It  was  deemed  necessary  to  take  posses- 
sion of  Jaffa  before  going  into  the  interior ;  and, 
besides,  by  moving  on  along  the  coast,  the  ships 
and  galleys  containing  the  stores  for  the  army 
could  accompany  them,  and  supply  them  abun- 
dantly, from  time  to  time,  as  they  might  require. 
By  this  course,  too,  they  would  be  drawing 
nearer  to  Jerusalem,  though  not  directly  ap- 
proaching it. 

The  arrangements  connected  with  the  march 
of  the  army  were  conducted  with  great  ceremo- 
ny and  parade.  The  knights  wore  their  costly 
armor,  and  were  mounted  on  horses  splendidly 


236  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1191. 

Trumpeters.  The  evening  proclamation  in  camp. 

equipped  and  caparisoned.  In  many  cases  the 
horses  themselves  were  protected,  like  the  rid- 
ers, with  an  armor  of  steel.  The  columns  were 
preceded  by  trumpeters,  who  awakened  innu- 
merable echoes  from  the  mountains,  and  from  the 
cliffs  of  the  shore,  with  their  animating  and  ex- 
citing music,  and  innumerable  flags  and  banners, 
with  the  most  gorgeous  decorations,  were  wav- 
ing in  the  air.  When  the  expedition  halted  at 
night,  heralds  passed  through  the  several  camps 
to  the  sound  of  trumpets,  and  pausing  at  each 
one,  and  giving  a  signal,  all  the  soldiers  in  the 
camp  kneeled  down  upon  the  ground,  when  the 
heralds  proclaimed  in  a  loud  voice  three  times, 
GOD  SAVE  THE  HOLY  SEPULCHRE,  and  all  the 
soldiers  said  Amen. 

The  march  was  commenced  on  the  twenty- 
second  of  August,  and  it  was  about  sixty  miles 
from  Acre  to  Jaffa.  Of  course,  an  army  of 
thirty  thousand  men  must  move  very  slowly. 
There  is  so  much  time  consumed  in  breaking 
up  the  encampment  in  the  morning,  and  in  form- 
ing it  again  at  night,  and  in  giving  such  a 
mighty  host  their  rest  and  food  in  the  middle 
of  the  day,  and  the  men,  moreover,  are  so  loaded 
with  the  arms  and  ammunition,  and  with  the 
necessary  supplies  of  food  and  clothing  which 


1191.]  PROGRESS  OF  THE  CRUSADE.  237 

The  slow  march.  Saladin's  harassing  movements. 

they  have  to  carry,  that  only  a  very  slow  prog- 
ress can  be  made.  In  this  case,  too,  the  march 
was  harassed  by  Salad  in,  who  hovered  on  the 
flank  of  the  Crusaders,  and  followed  them  all 
the  way,  sending  down  small  parties  from  the 
mountains  to  attack  and  cut  off  stragglers,  and 
threatening  the  column  at  every  exposed  point, 
so  as  to  keep  them  continually  on  the  alert. 
The  necessity  of  being  always  ready  to  form  in 
order  of  battle  to  meet  the  enemy,  should  he 
suddenly  come  upon  them,  restricted  them  very 
much  in  their  motions,  and  made  a  great  deal 
of  manoeuvring  necessary,  which,  of  course, 
greatly  increased  the  fatigue  of  the  soldiers, 
and  very  much  diminished  the  speed  of  their 
progress. 

Richard  wished  much  to  bring  on  a  general 
battle,  being  confident  that  he  should  conquer 
if  he  could  engage  in  it  on  equal  terms.  But 
Saladin  would  not  give  him  an  opportunity. 
He  kept  the  main  body  of  his  troops  shelter- 
ed among  the  mountains,  and  only  advanced 
slowly,  parallel  with  the  coast,  where  he  could 
watch  and  harass  the  movements  of  his  ene- 
mies without  coming  into  any  general  conflict 
with  them. 

Tliis  state  of  things  continued  for  about  three 


238  KING  KICHARD  I.          [1191. 

The  plain  of  Azotus.  The  order  of  battle. 

weeks,  and  then  at  last  Richard  reached  Jaffa. 
The  two  armies  manoeuvred  for  some  time  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  town,  and,  finally,  they  con- 
centrated their  forces  in  the  neighborhood  of 
a  plain  near  the  sea-shore,  at  a  place  called 
Azotus,  which  was  some  miles  beyond  Jaffa. 
Saladin  had  by  this  time  strengthened  himself 
so  much  that  he  was  ready  for  battle.  He  ac- 
cordingly marched  on  to  the  attack.  He  di- 
rected his  assault,  in  the  first  instance,  on  the 
wing  of  Richard's  army  which  was  formed  of 
the  French  troops  that  were  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy.  They  resist- 
ed them  successfully  and  drove  them  back. 
Richard  watched  the  operation,  but  for  a  time 
took  no  part  in  it,  except  to  make  feigned  ad- 
vances, from  time  to  time,  to  threaten  the  ene- 
my, and  to  harass  them  by  compelling  them  to 
perform  numerous  fatiguing  evolutions.  His 
soldiers,  and  especially  the  knights  and  barons 
in  his  army,  were  very  impatient  at  his  delay- 
ing so  long  to  take  an  active  and  an  efficient 
part  in  the  contest.  But  at  last,  when  he  found 
that  the  Saracen  troops  were  wearied,  and  were 
beginning  to  be  thrown  in  a  little  confusion,  he 
gave  the  signal  for  a  charge,  and  rode  forward 
at  the  head  of  the  troop,  mounted  on  his  famous 


1191.]  PROGRESS  OF  THE  CRUSADE.  239 

The  charge  of  Richard's  troops.  To  retreat  is  to  be  defeated. 

charger,  and  flourishing  his  heavy  battle-axe  in 
the  air. 

The  onset  was  terrible.  Richard  inspirited 
his  whole  troop  by  his  reckless  and  headlong 
bravery,  and  by  the  terrible  energy  with  which 
he  gave  himself  to  the  work  of  slaughtering  all 
who  came  in  his  way.  The  darts  and  javelins 
that  were  shot  by  the  enemy  glanced  off  from 
him  without  inflicting  any  wound,  being  turned 
aside  by  the  steel  armor  that  he  wore,  while 
every  person  that  came  near  enough  to  him  to 
strike  him  with  any  other  weapon  was  felled  at 
once  to  the  ground  by  a  blow  from  the  ponder- 
ous battle-axe.  The  example  which  Richard 
thus  set  was  followed  by  his  men,  and  in  a  short 
time  the  Saracens  began  every  where  to  give 
way.  When,  in  the  case  of  such  a  combat,  one 
side  begins  to  yield,  it  is  all  over  with  them. 
When  they  turn  to  retreat,  they,  of  course,  be- 
come at  once  defenseless,  and  the  pursuers  press 
on  upon  them,  killing  them  without  mercy  and 
at  their  pleasure,  and  with  very  little  danger  of 
being  killed  themselves.  A  man  can  fight  very 
well  while  he  is  pursuing,  but  scarcely  at  all 
when  he  is  pursued. 

It  was  not  long  before  Saladin's  army  was 
flying  in  all  directions,  the  Crusaders  pressing 


240  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1191. 

Saladin,  defeated,  retires.  Richard  at  Jaffa  again. 

on  upon  them  every  where  in  their  confusion, 
and  cutting  them  down  mercilessly  in  great 
numbers.  The  slaughter  was  immense.  About 
seven  thousand  of  the  Saracen  troops  were 
slain.  Among  them  were  thirty-two  of  Sala- 
din's  highest  and  best  officers.  As  soon  as  the 
Saracens  escaped  the  immediate  danger,  when 
the  Crusaders  had  given  over  the  pursuit,  they 
rallied,  and  Saladin  formed  them  again  into 
something  like  order.  He  then  commenced  a 
regular  and  formal  retreat  into  the  interior. 
He  first,  however,  sent  detachments  to  all  the 
country  around  to  dismantle  the  towns,  to  de- 
stroy all  stores  of  provisions,  and  to  seize  and 
carry  away  every  thing  of  value  that  could  be 
of  any  use  to  the  conquerors.  A  broad  extent 
of  country,  through  which  Richard  would  have 
to  march  in  advancing  toward  Jerusalem,  being 
thus  laid  waste,  the  Saracens  withdrew  farther 
into  the  interior,  and  there  Saladin  set  himself 
at  work  to  reorganize  his  broken  army  once 
more,  and  to  prepare  for  new  plans  of  resistance 
to  the  invaders. 

Richard  withdrew  with  his  army  to  Jaffa, 
<ind,  taking  possession  of  the  town,  he  estab- 
lished himself  there. 

It  was  now  September.     The  season  of  the 


1191.]  PROGRESS  OF  THE  CRUSADE.  241 

Sickness  in  the  army.  Excuses  for  delaying  the  march. 

year  was  hot  and  unhealthy ;  and  though  the 
allied  array  had  thus  far  been  victorious,  still 
there  was  a  great  deal  of  sickness  in  the  camp, 
and  the  soldiers  were  much  exhausted  by  the 
fatigue  which  they  had  endured,  and  by  their 
exposure  to  the  sun.  Richard  was  desirous, 
notwithstanding  this,  to  take  the  field  again, 
and  advance  into  the  interior,  so  as  to  follow  up 
the  victory  which  had  been  gained  over  Saladin 
at  Azotus ;  but  his  officers,  especially  those  of 
the  French  division  of  the  army,  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  thought  it  not 
safe  to  move  forward  so  soon.  "  It  would  be 
better  to  remain  a  short  time  in  Jaffa,"  they 
said,  "  to  recruit  the  army,  and  to  prepare  for 
advancing  in  a  more  sure  and  efficient  manner. 

"  Besides,"  said  they,  "we  need  Jaffa  for  a 
military  post,  and  it  will  be  best  to  remain  here 
until  we  shall  have  repaired  the  fortifications, 
and  put  the  place  in  a  good  condition  of  de- 
fense." 

But  this  was  only  an  excuse.  What  the 
army  really  desired  was  to  enjoy  repose  for  a 
time.  They  found  it  much  more  agreeable  to 
live  in  ease  and  indulgence  within  the  walls  of 
a  town  than  to  march  in  the  hot  sun  across  so 
arid  a  country,  loaded  down  as  they  were  with 

7—16 


242  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1191. 

Lingering  at  Jaffa.  The  judgment  of  historians. 

heavy  armor,  and  kept  constantly  in  a  state  of 
anxious  and  watchful  suspense  by  the  danger 
of  sudden  attacks  from  the  enemy. 

Richard  acceded  to  the  wishes  of  the  officers, 
and  decided  to  remain  for  a  time  in  Jaffa.  But 
they,  instead  of  devoting  themselves  energetic- 
ally to  making  good  again  the  fortifications  of 
the  town,  went  very  languidly  to  the  work. 
They  allowed  themselves  and  the  men  to  spend 
their  time  in  inaction  and  indulgence.  In  the 
mean  time,  Saladin  had  gathered  his  forces  to- 
gether again,  and  was  drawing  fresh  recruits 
every  day  to  his  standard  from  the  interior  of 
the  country.  He  was  preparing  for  more  vig- 
orous resistance  than  ever.  Richard  has  been 
strongly  condemned  for  thus  remaining  inactive 
in  Jaffa  after  the  battle  of  Azotus.  Historians, 
narrating  the  account  of  his  campaign,  say  that 
he  ought  to  have  marched  at  once  toward  Jeru- 
salem before  Saladin  should  have  had  time  to 
organize  any  new  means  of  resistance.  But  it 
is  impossible  for  those  who  are  at  a  distance 
from  the  scene  of  action  in  such  a  case,  and 
who  have  only  that  partial  and  imperfect  ac- 
count of  the  facts  which  can  be  obtained  through 
the  testimony  of  others,  to  form  any  reliable 
judgment  on  such  a  question.  Whether  it 


1191.]  PROGRESS  OF  THE  CRUSADE.  243 

Richard's  incursions  from  Jaffa.  Reconnoitring  and  foraging. 

would  be  prudent  or  imprudent  for  a  command- 
er to  advance  after  a  battle  can  be  known,  in 
general,  only  to  those  who  are  on  the  ground, 
and  who  have  personal  knowledge  of  all  the 
circumstances  of  the  case. 

While  Richard  remained  in  Jaffa,  he  made 
frequent  excursions  into  the  surrounding  terri- 
tory at  the  head  of  a  small  troop  of  adventur- 
ous men  who  liked  to  accompany  him.  Other 
small  detachments  were  often  sent  out.  These 
parties  went  sometimes  to  collect  forage,  and 
sometimes  to  reconnoitre  the  country  with  a 
view  of  f  scertaining  Saladin's  position  and  plans. 
Richard  took  great  delight  in  these  excursions, 
nor  were  they  attended  with  any  great  danger. 
At  the  present  day,  going  out  on  reconnoitring 
parties  is  very  dangerous  service  indeed,  for 
men  wear  no  armor,  and  they  are  liable  at  any 
moment  to  be  cut  down  by  a  Minie  rifle-ball, 
fired  from  an  unseen  hand  a  mile  away.  In 
those  days  the  case  was  very  different.  There 
were  no  missiles  that  could  be  thrown  for  a 
greater  distance  than  a  few  yards,  and  for  all 
such  the  heavy  steel  armor  that  the  knights 
wore  furnished,  in  general,  an  ample  protection. 
The  only  serious  danger  to  be  feared  was  that 
of  coming  unwarily  upon  a  superior  party  of 


244  KING   RICHARD  L          [1191. 

Richard's  predatory  excursions.  Sir  William's  stratagem. 

the  enemy  lying  in  ambush  to  entrap  the  re- 
connoitrers,  and  in  being  surrounded  by  them. 
But  Richard  had  so  much  confidence  in  the 
power  of  his  horse  and  in  his  own  prodigious 
personal  strength  that  he  had  very  little  fear. 
So  he  scoured  the  country  in  every  direction,  at 
the  head  of  a  small  attendant  squadron,  when- 
ever he  pleased,  considering  such  an  excursion 
in  the  light  of  nothing  more  than  an  exciting 
morning  ride. 

Of  course,  after  going  out  many  times  on  such 
excursions  and  coming  back  safely,  men  grad- 
ually become  less  cautious,  and  expo,  e  them- 
selves to  greater  and  greater  risks.  It  was  so 
with  Richard  and  his  troop,  and  several  times 
they  ventured  so  far  as  to  put  themselves  in 
very  serious  peril.  Indeed,  Richard  once  or 
twice  very  narrowly  escaped  being  taken  pris- 
oner. At  one  time  he  was  saved  by  the  gener- 
osity of  one  of  his  knights,  named  Sir  William. 
The  king  and  his  party  were  surprised  by  a 
large  party  of  Saracens,  and  nearly  surrounded. 
For  a  moment  it  was  uncertain  whether  they 
would  be  able  to  effect  their  retreat.  In  the 
midst  of  the  fray,  Sir  William  called  out  that  he 
was  the  king,  and  this  so  far  divided  the  atten- 
tion of  the  party  as  to  confuse  them  somewhat, 


1191.]  PROGRESS  OP  THE  CRUSADE.  245 

Sir  William's  ransom.  Incident  of  the  Knights  Templars. 

and  break  the  force  and  concentration  of  their 
attack,  and  thus  Richard  succeeded  in  making 
his  escape.  Sir  William,  however,  was  taken 
prisoner  and  carried  to  Saladin,  but  he  was  im- 
mediately liberated  by  Richard's  paying  the 
ransom  that  Saladin  demanded  for  him. 

At  another  time  word  came  to  him  suddenly 
in  the  town  that  a  troop  of  Knights  Templars 
were  attacked  and  nearly  surrounded  by  Sara- 
cens, and  that,  unless  they  had  help  immediate- 
ly, they  would  be  all  cut  off.  Richard  imme- 
diately seized  his  armor  and  began  to  put  it 
on,  and  at  the  same  time  he  ordered  one  of  his 
earls  to  mount  his  horse  and  hurry  out  to  the 
rescue  of  the  Templars  with  all  the  horsemen 
that  were  ready,  saying  also  that  he  would  fol- 
low himself,  with  more  men,  as  soon  as  he  could 
put  his  armor  on.  Now  the  armoring  of  a 
knight  for  battle  in  the  Middle  Ages  was  as 
long  an  operation  as  it  is  at  the  present  day  for 
a  lady  to  dress  for  a  ball.  The  several  pieces 
of  which  the  armor  was  composed  were  so  heavy, 
and  so  complicated,  moreover,  in  their  fasten- 
ings, that  they  could  only  be  put  on  by  means 
of  much  aid  from  assistants.  While  Richard 
was  in  the  midst  of  the  process,  another  mes^ 
senger  came,  saying  that  the  danger  of  the  Tem- 
plar* v.r 


246  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1191. 

Richard's  feats  of  prowess  among  the  Saracens.  The  Troubadours. 

"  Then  I  must  go,"  said  Richard,  "  as  I  am. 
I  should  be  unworthy  of  the  name  of  king  if  I 
were  to  abandon  those  whom  I  have  promised 
to  stand  by  and  succor  in  every  danger." 

So  he  leaped  upon  his  horse  and  rode  on 
alone.  On  arriving  at  the  spot,  he  plunged  into 
the  thickest  of  the  fight,  and  there  he  fought  so 
furiously,  and  made  such  havoc  among  the  Sara- 
cens with  his  battle-axe,  that  they  fell  back, 
and  the  Templars,  and  also  the  party  that  had 
gone  out  with  the  earl,  were  rescued,  and  made 
good  their  retreat  to  the  town,  leaving  only  on 
the  field  those  who  had  fallen  before  Richard 
arrived. 

Many  such  adventures  as  this  are  recorded 
in  the  old  histories  of  this  campaign,  and  they 
were  made  the  subjects  of  a  great  number  of 
songs  and  ballads,  written  and  sung  by  the 
Troubadours  in  those  days  in  honor  of  the 
valiant  deeds  of  the  Crusaders. 

The  armies  remained  in  Jaffa  through  the 
whole  of  the  month  of  September.  During  this 
time  a  sort  of  negotiation  was  opened  between 
Richard  and  Saladin,  with  a  view  to  agreeing, 
if  possible,  upon  some  terms  of  peace.  The  ob- 
ject, on  the  part  of  Saladin,  in  these  negotia- 
tions, was  probably  delay,  for  the  longer  he  could 


1191.]  PROGRESS  OF  THE  CRUSADE.  247 

Negotiations  for  peace.  Saphadin.  A  marriage  proposed. 

continue  to  keep  Richard  in  Jaffa,  the  stronger 
he  would  himself  become,  and  the  more  able  to 
resist  Richard's  intended  march  to  Jerusalem. 
Richard  consented  to  open  these  negotiations, 
not  knowing  but  that  some  terms  might  possi- 
bly be  agreed  upon  by  which  Saladin  would 
consent  to  restore  Jerusalem  to  the  Christians, 
and  thus  end  the  war. 

The  messenger  whom  Saladin  employed  in 
these  negotiations  was  Saphadin,  his  brother. 
Saphadin,  being  provided  with  a  safe-conduct 
for  this  purpose,  passed  back  and  forth  between 
Jaffa  and  Saladin's  camp,  carrying  the  propo- 
sitions and  counter  -  propositions  to  and  fro. 
Saphadin  was  a  very  courteous  and  gentleman- 
ly man,  and  also  a  very  brave  soldier,  and  Rich- 
ard formed  quite  a  strong  friendship  for  him. 

A  number  of  different  plans  were  proposed 
in  the  course  of  the  negotiation,  but  there  seem- 
ed to  arise  insuperable  objections  against  them 
all.  At  one  time,  either  at  this  period  or  sub- 
sequently, when  Richard  returned  again  to  the 
coast,  a  project  was  formed  to  settle  the  dispute, 
as  quarrels  and  wars  were  often  settled  in  those 
days,  by  a  marriage.  The  plan  was  for  Sala- 
din and  Richard  to  cease  their  hostility  to  each 
other,  and  become  friends  and  allies ;  the  con- 


248  KING  RICHARD  I.  [1191. 

King  Richard  offered  his  sister  in  marriage  to  Saphadin. 

sideration  for  terminating  the  war  being,  on 
Richard's  side,  that  he  would  give  his  sister  Jo- 
anna, the  ex-queen  of  Sicily,  in  marriage  to 
Saphadin  ;  and  that  Saladin,  on  his  part,  should 
relinquish  Jerusalem  to  Richard.  Whether  it 
was  that  Joanna  would  not  consent  to  be  thus 
conveyed  in  a  bargain  to  an  Arab  chieftain  as  4 
part  of  a  price  paid  for  a  peace,  or  whether  Sal' 
adin  did  not  consider  her  majesty  as  a  full  equiv- 
alent for  the  surrender  of  Jerusalem,  the  plan 
fell  through  like  all  the  others  that  had  been 
proposed,  and  at  length  the  negotiations  wer^ 
fully  abandoned,  and  Richard  began  again  t< 
prepare  for  taking  the  field. 


1191.]  REVERSES.  249 

Fends  in  the  Christian  army.  The  march  in  November. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
REVERSES. 

BY  this  time  very  serious  dissensions  and 
difficulties  had  arisen  in  the  army  of  the 
Crusaders.  There  were  a  great  many  chief- 
tains who  felt  very  independent  of  each  other, 
and  feuds  and  quarrels  of  long  standing  broke 
out  anew,  and  with  more  violence  than  ever. 
There  were  many  different  opinions,  too,  in  re- 
spect to  the  course  which  it  was  now  best  to 
pursue.  Richard,  however,  contrived  yet  to 
maintain  some  sort  of  authority,  and  he  finally 
decided  to  commence  his  march  from  Jaffa. 

It  was  now  November.  The  fall  rains  began 
to  set  in.  The  distance  to  Jerusalem  was  but 
about  thirty-two  miles.  The  army  advanced 
to  Ramula,  which  is  about  fifteen  miles  from 
Jaffa,  but  they  endured  very  great  hardships 
and  sufferings  from  the  extreme  inclemency  of 
the  season.  The  soldiers  were  wet  to  the  skin 
by  drenching  rains.  Their  provisions  were 
soaked  and  spoiled,  and  their  armor  was  rusted, 
and  much  of  it  rendered  useless.  When  they 


250  KING  EICHARD   I.          [1191. 

The  army  weakened  by  disease,  mutiny,  and  desertion. 

attempted  to  pitch  their  tents  at  night  at  Ra- 
mula,  the  wind  tore  them  from  their  fastenings, 
and  blew  the  canvas  away,  so  as  to  deprive 
^hem  of  shelter. 

Of  course,  these  disasters  increased  the  dis- 
content in  the  army,  and,  by  making  the  men 
impatient  and  ill-natured,  increased  the  bitter- 
ness of  their  quarrels.  The  army  finally  ad- 
vanced, however,  as  far  as  Bethany,  with  a  for- 
lorn hope  of  being  strong  enough,  when  they 
should  arrive  there,  to  attack  Jerusalem ;  but 
this  hope,  when  the  time  came,  Richard  was 
obliged  to  abandon.  The  rain  and  exposure 
had  brought  a  great  deal  of  disease  into  the 
camp.  The  men  were  dying  in  great  numbers. 
This  mortality  was  increased  by  famine,  for  the 
stores  which  the  army  had  brought  with  them 
were  spoiled  by  the  rain,  and  Saladin  had  so 
laid  waste  the  country  that  no  fresh  supplies 
could  be  obtained.  Then,  in  addition  to  this, 
the  soldiers,  finding  their  sufferings  intolerable, 
and  seeing  no  hope  of  relief,  began  to  desert  in 
great  numbers,  and  Richard  finally  found  that 
there  was  no  alternative  for  him  but  to  fall  back 
again  to  the  sea-shore. 

Instead  of  going  to  Jaffa,  however,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  Ascalon.  Ascalon  was  a  larger  and 


1191.]  REVERSES.  251 

The  return  to  Aecalon.  Rebuilding  the  fortifications. 

stronger  city  than  Jaffa.  At  least  it  had  been 
stronger,  and  its  fortifications  were  more  ex- 
tensive, though  the  place  had  been  dismantled 
iby  Saladin  before  he  left  the  coast.  This  town, 
as  you  will  see  by  the  map,  is  situated  toward 
the  southern  part  of  Palestine,  near  to  the  con- 
fines of  Egypt,  and  it  had  been  a  place  of  im- 
portance as  a  sort  of  entrepot  of  commerce  be- 
tween Egypt  and  the  Holy  Land.  Richard  be- 
gan to  think  that  it  would  be  necessary  for  him 
to  establish  his  army  somewhat  permanently  in 
the  strong  places  on  the  coast,  and  wait  until 
he  could  obtain  re-enforcements  from  Europe 
before  attempting  again  to  advance  toward  Je- 
rusalem. He  thought  it  important,  therefore, 
to  take  possession  of  Ascalon,  and  thus — Acre 
and  Jaffa  being  already  strongly  garrisoned — 
the  whole  coast  would  be  secure  under  his  con- 
trol. 

Accordingly,  on  his  retreat  from  Jerusalem, 
he  proceeded  with  a  large  portion  of  his  army 
to  Ascalon,  and  immediately  commenced  the 
work  of  repairing  the  walls  and  rebuilding  the 
towers,  not  knowing  how  soon  Saladin  might  be 
upon  him. 

Indeed,  Saladin  and  his  troops  had  followed 
Richard's  army  on  their  reteat  from  Bethany, 


252  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1191. 

Saladin  presses  upon  the  retiring  army.  Skirmishing. 

and  had  pressed  them  very  closely  all  the  way. 
It  was  at  one  time  quite  doubtful  whether  they 
would  succeed  in  making  good  their  retreat  to 
Ascalon.  The  Saracen  horsemen  hovered  in 
great  numbers  on  the  rear  of  Richard's  army, 
and  made  incessant  skirmishing  attacks  upon 
them.  Richard  placed  a  strong  body  of  the 
Knights  of  St.  John  there  to  keep  them  off. 
These  knights  were  well  armed,  and  they  were 
brave  and  well-trained  warriors.  They  beat 
back  the  Saracens  whenever  they  came  near. 
Still,  many  of  the  knights  were  killed,  and 
straggling  parties,  from  time  to  time,  were  cut 
off,  and  the  whole  army  was  kept  in  a  constant 
state  of  suspense  and  excitement,  during  the 
whole  march,  by  the  continual  danger  of  an  at- 
tack. When,  at  length,  they  approached  the 
sea-shore,  and  turned  to  the  south  on  the  way 
to  Ascalon,  they  were  a  little  more  safe,  for  the 
sea  defended  them  on  one  side.  Still,  the  Sar- 
acens turned  with  them,  and  hovered  about  their 
left  flank,  which  was  the  one  that  was  turned 
toward  the  land,  and  harassed  the  march  all  the 
way.  The  progress  of  the  troops  was  greatly 
retarded  too,  as  well  as  made  more  fatiguing, 
by  the  presence  of  such  an  enemy ;  for  they 
were  not  only  obliged  to  move  more  slowly 


1191.]  REVERSES.  253 

Contrivances  of  the  enemy  to  harass  the  army. 

when  they  were  advancing,  but  they  could  only 
halt  at  night  in  places  which  were  naturally 
strong  and  easily  to  be  defended,  for  fear  of  an 
assault  upon  their  encampment  in  the  night. 
During  the  night,  too,  notwithstanding  all  the 
precautions  they  could  take  to  secure  a  strong 
and  safe  position,  the  men  were  continually 
roused  from  their  slumbers  by  an  alarm  that 
the  Saracens  were  coming  upon  them,  when 
they  would  rush  from  their  tents,  and  seize  their 
arms,  and  prepare  for  a  combat ;  and  then,  aft- 
er a  time,  they  would  learn  that  the  expected 
attack  was  only  a  feint  made  by  a  small  body 
of  the  enemy  just  to  harass  them. 

It  might  seem,  at  first  view,  that  such  a  war- 
fare as  this  would  weary  and  exhaust  the  pur- 
suers as  much  as  the  pursued,  but  in  reality  it 
is  not  so.  In  the  case  of  a  night  alarm,  for  in- 
stance, the  whole  camp  of  the  Crusaders  would 
be  aroused  from  their  sleep  by  it,  and  kept  in  a 
state  of  suspense  for  an  hour  or  more  before 
the  truth  could  be  fully  ascertained, While  to 
give  the  alarm  would  require  only  a  very  small 
party  from  the  army  of  the  Saracens,  the  main 
body  retiring  as  usual  to  sleep,  and  sleeping  all 
night  undisturbed. 

At  length  Richard  reached  Ascalon  in  safety, 


254  KING  RICHARD   I.          [1191. 

Difficulties  which  the  king  met  with  in  repairing  Ascalon. 

and  posted  himself  within  the  walls,  while  Sal- 
adin  established  his  camp  at  a  safe  distance  in 
the  interior  of  the  country.  Of  course,  the  first 
thing  which  he  found  was  to  be  done,  as  has  al- 
ready been  remarked,  was  to  repair  and  strength- 
en the  walls,  and  it  was  evident  that  no  time  was 
to  be  lost  in  accomplishing  this  work. 

But,  unfortunately,  the  character  of  the  ma- 
terials of  which  Richard's  army  was  composed 
was  not  such  as  to  favor  any  special  efficiency 
in  conducting  an  engineering  operation.  All 
the  knights,  and  a  large  proportion  of  the  com- 
mon soldiers,  deemed  themselves  gentlemen. 
They  had  volunteered  to  join  the  crusade  from 
high  and  romantic  notions  of  chivalry  and  re- 
ligion. They  were  perfectly  ready,  at  any  time, 
to  fight  the  Saracens,  and  to  kill  or  be  killed, 
whichever  fate  the  fortune  of  war  might  assign 
them  ;  but  to  bear  burdens,  to  mix  mortar,  and 
to  build  walls,  were  occupations  far  beneath 
them  ;  and  the  only  way  to  induce  them  to  take 
hold  of  this  work  seems  to  have  been  for  the 
knights  and  officers  to  set  them  the  example. 

Thus,  in  repairing  the  walls  of  Acre,  all  the 
highest  officers  of  the  army,  with  Richard  him- 
self at  the  head  of  them,  took  hold  of  the  work 
with  their  own  hands,  and  built  away  on  the 


1191.]  REVERSES.  255 

The  troops  unwilling  to  labor.  Resentment  of  Leopold. 

walls  and  towers  like  so  many  masons.  Of 
course,  the  body  of  the  soldiery  had  no  excuse 
for  declining  the  work,  when  even  the  king  did 
not  consider  himself  demeaned  by  it,  and  the 
whole  army  joined  in  making  the  reparations 
with  great  zeal. 

But  such  kind  of  zeal  as  this  is  not  often 
very  enduring.  The  men  had  accomplished 
this  work  very  well  at  Acre,  but  now,  in  under- 
taking a  second  operation  of  the  kind,  their  ardor 
was  found  to  be  somewhat  subsided.  Besides, 
they  were  discouraged  and  disheartened  in  some 
degree  by  the  results  of  the  fruitless  campaign 
they  had  made  into  the  interior,  and  worn  down 
by  the  fatigues  they  had  endured  on  their  march. 
Stfll,  the  knights  and  nobles  generally  followed 
Richard's  example,  and  worked  upon  the  walls 
to  encourage  the  soldiery.  One,  however,  ab- 
solutely refused ;  this  was  Leopold,  the  Arch- 
duke of  Austria,  whose  flag  Richard  had  pulled 
down  from  one  of  the  towers  in  Acre,  and  tram- 
pled upon  as  it  lay  on  the  ground.  The  arch- 
duke had  never  forgiven  this  insult. 

Indeed,  this  rudeness  on  the  part  of  Richard 
was  not  a  solitary  instance  of  his  enmity.  It 
was  only  a  new  step  taken  in  an  old  quarrel. 
Richard  and  the  duke  had  been  on  very  ill 


256  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1191. 

The  present  which  Kichard  made  to  Iterengaria. 

terms  before.  The  reader  will  perhaps  recol- 
lect that  when  Richard  was  at  Cyprus  he  made 
captive  a  young  princess,  the  daughter  of  the 
king,  and  that  he  made  a  present  of  her,  as  a 
handmaid  and  companion,  to  Queen  Berengaria. 
Berengaria  and  Joanna,  when  they  left  Cyprus, 
brought  the  young  princess  with  them,  and 
when  they  were  established  with  the  king  in  the 
palace  at  Acre,  she  remained  with  them.  She 
was  treated  kindly,  it  is  true,  and  was  made  a 
member  of  the  family,  but  still  she  was  a  pris- 
oner. Such  captives  were  greatly  prized  in 
those  days  as  presents  for  ladies  of  high  rank, 
who  kept  them  as  pets,  just  as  they  would,  at 
the  present  day,  a  beautiful  Canary  bird  or  a 
favorite  pony.  They  often  made  intimate  and 
familiar  companions  of  them,  and  dressed  them 
with  great  elegance,  and  surrounded  them  with 
every  luxury.  Still,  notwithstanding  this  gild- 
ing of  their  chains,  the  poor  captives  usually 
pined  away  their  lives  in  sorrow,  mourning  con- 
tinually to  be  restored  to  their  father  and  mother, 
and  to  their  own  proper  home. 

Now  it  happened  that  the  Archduke  of  Aus- 
tria was  a  relative,  by  marriage,  of  the  King  of 
Cyprus,  and  the  princess  was  his  niece;  conse- 
quently, when  she  arrived  at  the  camp  before 


1191.]  REVERSES.  257 

Intercession  of  Leopold.  Richard's  exasperation. 

Acre  as  a  captive  in  the  hands  of  the  queen, 
as  might  naturally  have  been  expected,  he  took 
a  great  interest  in  her  case.  He  wished  to  have 
her  released  and  restored  to  her  father,  and  he 
interceded  with  Richard  in  her  behalf.  But 
Richard  would  not  release  her.  He  was  not 
willing  to  take  her  away  from  Berengaria.  The 
archduke  was  angry  with  the  king  for  this  re- 
fusal, and  a  quarrel  ensued ;  and  it  was  partly 
in  consequence  of  this  quarrel,  or,  rather,  of  the 
exasperation  of  mind  that  was  produced  by  it, 
that  Richard  would  not  allow  the  archduke's 
banner  to  float  from  the  towers  of  Acre  when 
the  city  fell  into  their  hands. 

The  archduke  felt  very  keenly  the  indignity 
which  Richard  thus  offered  him,  and  though  at 
the  time  he  had  no  power  to  revenge  it,  he  re- 
membered it,  and  remained  long  in  a  gloomy 
and  resentful  frame  of  mind.  And  now,  while 
Richard  was  endeavoring  to  encourage  and  stim- 
ulate the  soldiers  to  work  on  the  walls,  by  in- 
ducing the  knights  and  barons  to  join  him  in 
setting  the  example,  Leopold  refused.  He  said 
that  he  was  neither  the  son  of  a  carpenter  nor 
of  a  mason,  that  he  should  go  to  work  like  a 
laborer  to  build  walls.  Richard  was  enraged 

at  this  answer,  and,  as  the  story  goes,  flew  at 
7—17 


258  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1191. 

Richard  expels  Leopold  from  Ascalon.  The  work  goes  on. 

Leopold  in  his  passion,  and  struck  and  kicked 
him.  He  also  immediately  turned  the  arch- 
duke and  all  his  vassals  out  of  the  town,  declar- 
ing that  they  should  not  share  the  protection  of 
walls  that  they  would  not  help  to  build ;  so 
they  were  obliged  to  encamp  without,  in  com- 
pany with  that  portion  of  the  army  that  could 
not  be  accommodated  within  the  walls. 

But,  notwithstanding  the  bad  example  set 
thus  by  the  archduke,  far  the  greater  portion  of 
the  knights,  and  barons,  and  high  officers  of  the 
army  joined  very  heartily  in  the  work  of  build- 
ing the  walls.  Even  the  bishops,  and  abbots, 
and  other  monks,  as  well  as  the  military  nobles, 
took  hold  of  the  work  with  great  zeal,  and  the 
repairs  went  on  much  more  rapidly  than  could 
have  been  expected.  During  all  this  time  the 
army  kept  their  communications  open  with  the 
other  towns  along  the  coast — with  Jaffa,  and 
Acre,  and  other  strongholds,  so  that  at  length 
the  whole  shore  was  well  fortified,  and  secure 
in  their  possession. 

Saladin,  during  all  this  time,  had  distributed 
his  troops  in  various  encampments  along  the 
line  parallel  with  the  coast,  and  at  some  dis- 
tance from  it,  and  for  some  weeks  the  two  ar- 
mies remained,  in  a  great  degree,  quiet  in  their 


1191.]  REVERSES.  259 

Waiting  for  re-enforcements.  The  Abbot  of  Clairvaux. 

several  positions.  The  Crusaders  were  too 
much  diminished  in  numbers  by  the  privations 
and  the  sickness  which  they  had  undergone,  as 
well  as  by  the  losses  they  had  suffered  in  bat- 
tle, and  too  much  weakened  by  their  internal 
dissensions,  to  go  out  of  their  strongholds  to  at- 
tack Saladin,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  they 
were  too  well  protected  by  the  walls  of  the 
towns  to  which  they  had  retreated  for  Saladin 
to  attack  them.  Both  sides  were  waiting  for 
re-enforcements.  Saladin  was  indeed  continu- 
ally receiving  accessions  to  his  army  from  the 
interior,  and  Richard  was  expecting  them  from 
Europe.  He  sent  to  a  distinguished  ecclesias- 
tic, named  the  Abbot  of  Clairvaux,  who  had  a 
high  reputation  in  Europe,  and  enjoyed  great  in- 
fluence at  many  of  the  principal  courts.  In  his 
letter  to  the  abbot,  he  requested  him  to  visit 
the  different  courts,  and  urge  upon  the  princes 
and  the  people  of  the  different  countries  the  ne- 
cessity that  they  should  come  to  the  rescue  of 
the  Christian  cause  in  the  Holy  Land.  Unless 
they  were  willing,  he  said,  that  all  hope  of  re- 
gaining possession  of  the  Holy  Land  should  be 
abandoned,  they  must  come  with  large  re-en* 
forcements,  and  that,  too,  without  any  delay. 
During  the  period  of  delay  occasioned  by 


260  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1191. 

The  truce.          Courtesy  of  enemies  when  not  at  contest.          Presents. 

these  circumstances,  there  was  a  sort  of  truce 
established  between  the  two  armies,  and  the 
knights  on  each  side  mingled  together  frequent- 
ly on  very  friendly  terms.  Indeed,  it  was  the 
pride  and  glory  of  soldiers  in  this  chivalrous 
age  to  treat  each  other,  when  not  in  actual  con- 
flict, in  a  very  polite  and  courteous  manner,  as 
if  they  were  not  animated  by  any  personal  re- 
sentment against  their  enemies,  but  only  by  a 
spirit  of  fidelity  to  the  prince  who  commanded 
them,  or  to  the  cause  in  which  they  were  en- 
gaged. Accordingly,  when,  for  any  reason,  the 
war  was  for  a  time  suspended,  the  combatants 
became  immediately  the  best  friends  in  the 
world,  and  actually  vied  with  each  other  to  see 
which  should  evince  the  most  generous  courtesy 
toward  their  opponents. 

On  the  present  occasion  they  often  made  vis- 
its to  each  other,  and  they  arranged  tourna- 
ments and  other  military  celebrations  which 
were  attended  by  the  knights  and  chieftains  on 
both  sides.  Richard  and  Saladin  often  sent 
each  other  handsome  presents.  At  one  time 
when  Richard  was  sick,  Saladin  sent  him  a 
quantity  of  delicious  fruit  from  Damascus.  The 
Damascus  gardens  have  been  renowned  in  every 
age  for  the  peaches,  pears,  figs,  and  other  fruits 


1191.]  REVERSES.  261 

Saladin's  present  to  Richard.  The  Christian  army  discouraged. 

which  they  produce,  and  especially  tor  a  pecul- 
iar plum,  famous  through  all  the  East.  Sala- 
din  sent  a  supply  of  this  fruit  to  Richard  when 
he  heard  that  he  was  sick,  and  accompanied  his 
present  with  very  earnest  and,  perhaps,  very 
sincere  inquiries  in  respect  to  the  condition  ot 
the  patient,  and  expressions  of  his  wishes  for 
his  recovery. 

The  disposition  of  the  two  commanders  to 
live  on  friendly  terms  with  each  other  at  this 
time  was  increased  by  the  hope  which  Richard 
entertained  that  he  might,  by  some  possibility, 
come  to  an  amicable  agreement  with  Saladin  in 
respect  to  Jerusalem,  and  thus  bring  the  war  to 
an  end.  He  was  beginning  to  be  thoroughly 
discontented  with  his  situation,  and  with  every 
thing  pertaining  to  the  war.  Nothing  since  the 
first  capture  of  Acre  had  really  gone  well.  His 
army  had  been  repulsed  in  its  attempt  to  ad- 
vance into  the  interior,  and  was  now  hemmed 
in  by  the  enemy  on  every  side,  and  shut  up  in 
a  few  towns  on  the  sea-coast.  The  men  under 
his  command  had  been  greatly  diminished  in 
numbers,  and,  though  sheltered  from  the  enemy, 
the  force  that  remained  was  gradually  wasting 
away  from  the  effects  of  exposure  to  the  climate 
and  from  fatigue.  There  was  no  prospect  of 


262  KING   RICHARD  I.  [1191. 


King  Richard  uneasy  respecting  the  state  of  England. 

any  immediate  re-enforcements  arriving  from 
Europe,  and  no  hope,  without  them,  of  being  able 
to  take  the  field  successfully  against  Saladin. 

Besides  all  this,  Richard  was  very  uneasy  in 
respect  to  the  state  of  affairs  in  his  own  domin- 
ions, in  England  and  in  Normandy.  He  dis- 
trusted the  promises  that  Philip  had  made,  and 
was  very  anxious  lest  he  might,  when  he  ar- 
rived in  France,  take  advantage  of  Richard's 
absence,  and,  under  some  pretext  or  other,  in- 
vade some  of  his  provinces.  From  England  he 
was  continually  receiving  very  unfavorable  tid- 
ings. His  mother  Eleanora,  to  whom  he  had 
committed  some  general  oversight  of  his  inter- 
ests during  his  absence,  was  beginning  to  write 
him  alarming  letters  in  respect  to  certain  in- 
trigues which  were  going  on  in  England,  and 
which  threatened  to  deprive  him  of  his  English 
kingdom  altogether.  She  urged  him  to  return 
as  soon  as  possible.  Richard  was  exceedingly 
anxious  to  comply  with  this  recommendation, 
but  he  could  not  abandon  his  army  in  the  con- 
dition in  which  it  then  was,  nor  could  he  hon- 
orably withdraw  it  without  having  previously 
come  to  some  agreement  with  Saladin  by  which 
the  Holy  Sepulchre  could  be  secured  to  the  pos- 
session of  the  Christians. 


1191.]  REVERSES.  263 

Selfishness,  not  generosity,  was  the  secret  motive. 

This  being  the  state  of  the  case,  he  had  every 
motive  for  pressing  the  negotiations,  and  for  cul- 
tivating, while  they  were  in  progress,  the  most 
friendly  relations  possible  with  Saladin,  and  for 
persevering  in  pressing  them  as  long  as  the 
least  possible  hope  remained.  Accordingly, 
during  all  this  time  Richard  treated  Saladin 
with  the  greatest  courtesy.  He  sent  him  many 
presents,  and  paid  him  many  polite  attentions. 
All  this  display  of  urbanity  toward  each  other, 
on  the  part  of  these  ferocious  and  bloodthirsty 
men,  has  been  actually  attributed  by  mankind 
to  the  instinctive  nobleness  and  generosity  of 
the  spirit  of  chivalry;  but,  in  reality,  as  is  in- 
deed too  often  the  case  with  the  pretended  no- 
bleness and  generosity  of  rude  and  violent  men, 
a  cunning  and  far-seeing  selfishness  lay  at  the 
bottom  of  it. 

In  the  course  of  these  negotiations,  Richard 
declared  to  Saladin  that  all  which  the  Chris- 
tians desired  was  the  possession  of  Jerusalem 
and  the  restoration  of  the  true  cross,  and  he 
said  that  surely  some  terms  could  be  devised  on 
which  Saladin  could  concede  those  two  points. 
But  Saladin  replied  that  Jerusalem  was  as  sa- 
cred a  place  in  the  eyes  of  Mussulmans,  and  as 
dear  to  them,  as  it  was  to  the  Christians,  and 


264  KING   RICHARD  I.          [1191. 

Saladin's  reason  for  retaining  Jerusalem.  A  political  marriage. 

that  they  could  on  no  account  give  it  up.  In 
respect  to  the  true  cross,  the  Christians,  he  said, 
if  they  could  obtain  it,  would  worship  it  in  an 
idolatrous  manner,  as  they  did  their  other  relics ; 
and  as  the  law  of  the  Prophet  in  the  Koran  for- 
bade idolatry,  they  could  not  conscientiously 
give  it  up.  "By  so  doing,"  said  he,  "we  should 
be  accessories  to  the  sin." 

It  was  in  consequence  of  the  insuperable  ob- 
jections which  arose  against  an  absolute  sur- 
render of  Jerusalem  to  the  Christians  that  the 
negotiations  took  the  turn  which  led  to  the  pro- 
posal of  a  marriage  between  the  ex-Queen  Jo- 
anna and  Saphadin ;  for,  when  Richard  found 
that  no  treaty  was  possible  that  would  give  him 
full  possession  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  letters 
which  he  received  from  England  made  more  and 
more  urgent  the  necessity  that  he  should  return, 
he  conceived  the  plan  of  a  sort  of  joint  occu- 
pancy of  the  Holy  City  by  Mussulmans  and 
Christians  together.  This  was  to  be  effected 
by  means  of  the  proposed  marriage.  The  mar- 
riage was  to  be  the  token  and  pledge  of  a  sur- 
rendering, on  both  sides,  of  the  bitter  fanaticism 
which  had  hitherto  animated  them,  and  of  their 
determination  henceforth  to  live  in  peace,  not- 
withstanding their  religious  differences.  If  this 


1191.]  EEVERSES.  265 

The  compromise  was  opposed  by  the  priests. 

state  of  feeling  could  be  once  established,  there 
would  be  no  difficulty,  it  was  thought,  in  arrang- 
ing some  sort  of  mixed  government  for  Jerusa~ 
lem  that  would  secure  access  to  the  holy  places 
by  both  Mussulmans  and  Christians,  and  ac- 
cemplish  the  ends  of  the  war  to  the  satisfaction 
of  all. 

It  was  said  that  Richard  proposed  this  plan, 
and  that  both  Saladin  and  Saphadin  evinced  a 
willingness  to  accede  to  it,  but  that  it  was  de- 
feated by  the  influence  of  the  priests  on  both 
sides.  The  imams  among  the  Mussulmans, 
and  the  bishops  and  monks  in  Richard's  army, 
were  equally  shocked  at  this  plan  of  making  a 
**  compromise  of  principle,"  as  they  considered 
it,  and  forming  a  compact  between  evil  and  good. 
The  men  of  each  party  devoutly  believed  that 
the  cause  which  their  side  espoused  was  the 
cause  of  God,  and  that  that  of  the  other  was  the 
cause  of  Satan,  and  neither  could  tolerate  for  a 
moment  any  proposal  for  a  union,  or  an  alliance 
of  any  kind,  between  elements  so  utterly  antag- 
onistical.  And  it  was  in  vain,  as  both  com- 
manders knew  full  well,  to  attempt  to  carry 
such  an  arrangement  into  effect  against  the  con- 
viction of  the  priests ;  for  they  had,  on  both  sides, 
so  great  an  influence  over  the  masses  of  the 


266  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1191 

The.  scheme  of  joint  occupancy  of  Jerusalem  abandoned. 

people  that,  without  their  approval,  or  at  least 
their  acquiescence,  nothing  could  be  done. 

So  the  plan  of  an  alliance  and  union  between 
the  Christians  and  the  Mohammedans,  with  a 
view  to  a  joint  occupancy  and  guardianship  of 
the  holy  places  in  Jerusalem  was  finally  aban- 
doned, and  Joanna  gave  up  the  hope,  or  was  re- 
leased from  the  fear,  as  the  case  may  have  been, 
of  having  a  Saracen  for  a  husband. 


1191.]        THE  OLD   MAN,  ETC.  267 

The  conquest  of  Jerusalem  by  Godfrey  of  Bouillon. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
THE  OLD  MAN  OF  THE   MOUNTAINS. 

ONE  of  the  greatest  sources  of  trouble  and 
difficulty  which  Richard  experienced  in 
managing  his  heterogeneous  mass  of  followers 
was  the  quarrel  which  has  been  already  alluded 
to  between  the  two  knights  who  claimed  the 
right  to  be  the  King  of  Jerusalem,  whenever 
possession  of  that  city  should  by  any  means  be 
obtained.  The  reader  will  recollect,  perhaps, 
that  it  has  already  been  stated  that  a  very  re- 
nowned Crusader,  named  Godfrey  of  Bouillon, 
had  penetrated,  about  a  hundred  years  before 
this  time,  into  the  interior  of  the  Holy  Land,  at 
the  head  of  a  large  army,  and  there  had  taken 
possession  of  Jerusalem ;  that  the  earls,  and 
barons,  and  other  prominent  knights  in  his 
army  had  chosen  him  king  of  the  city,  and  fix- 
ed the  crown  and  the  royal  title  upon  him  and 
his  descendants  forever ;  that  when  Jerusalem 
was  itself,  after  a  time,  lost,  the  title  still  re- 
mained in  Godfrey's  family,  and  that  it  d»- 


268  KING  EICHARD  I.          [1191. 

History  of  the  contest  for  the  title  of  King  of  Jerutalem. 

scended  to  a  princess  named  Sibylla ;  that  a 
knight  named  Guy  of  Lusignan  married  Sibyl- 
la, and  then  claimed  the  title  of  King  of  Jeru- 
salem in  the  right  of  his  wife ;  that,  in  process 
of  time,  Sibylla  died,  and  then  one  party  claim- 
ed that  the  rights  of  her  husband,  Guy  of  Lu- 
signan, ceased,  since  he  held  them  only  through 
his  wife,  and  that  thenceforward  the  title  and 
the  crown  vested  in  Isabella,  her  sister,  who 
was  the  next  heir ;  that  Isabella,  however,  was 
married  to  a  man  who  was  too  feeble  and  timid 
to  assert  his  claims ;  that,  consequently,  a  more 
bold  and  unscrupulous  knight,  named  Conrad 
of  Montferrat,  seized  her  and  carried  her  off, 
and  afterward  procured  a  divorce  for  her  from 
her  former  husband,  and  married  her  himself; 
and  that  then  a  great  quarrel  arose  between 
Guy  of  Lusignan,  the  husband  of  Sibylla,  and 
Conrad  of  Montferrat,  the  husband  of  Isabella. 
This  quarrel  had  now  been  raging  a  long  time, 
and  all  attempts  to  settle  it  or  to  compromise  it 
had  proved  wholly  unavailing. 

The  ground  which  Guy  and  his  friends  and 
adherents  took  was,  that  while  they  admitted 
that  Guy  held  the  title  of  King  of  Jerusalem  in 
the  right  of  his  wife,  and  that  his  wife  was  now 
dead,  still,  being  once  invested  with  the  crown, 


1191.]        THE  OLD  MAN,  ETC.  269 

A  delicate  question.  The  Crusaders'  motives 

it  was  his  for  life,  and  lie  could  not  justly  be 
deprived  of  it.  After  his  death  it  might  descend 
very  properly  to  the  next  heir,  but  during  his 
lifetime  it  vested  in  him. 

Conrad,  on  the  other  hand,  and  the  friends 
and  adherents  who  espoused  his  cause,  argued 
that,  since  Guy  had  no  claim  whatever  except 
what  came  in  and  through  his  wife,  of  course, 
when  his  wife  died,  his  possession  ought  to 
terminate.  If  Sibylla  had  had  children,  the 
crown  would  have  descended  to  one  of  them ; 
but  she  being  without  direct  heirs,  it  passed,  of 
right,  to  Isabella,  her  sister,  and  that  Isabella's 
husband  was  entitled  to  claim  and  take  posses- 
sion of  it  in  her  name. 

It  is  obvious  that  this  was  a  very  nice  and 
delicate  question,  and  it  would  have  been  a  very 
difficult  one  for  a  company  of  gay  and  reckless 
soldiers  like  the  Crusaders  to  settle  if  they  had 
attempted  to  look  at  it  simply  as  a  question  of 
law  and  right ;  but  the  Crusaders  seldom  troub- 
led themselves  with  examining  legal  arguments, 
and  still  less  with  seeking  for  and  applying 
principles  of  justice  and  right  in  taking  sides  in 
the  contests  that  arose  among  them.  The  ques- 
tion for  each  man  to  consider  in  such  cases  was 
simply,  "  Which  side  is  it  most  for  my  inter- 


270  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1191. 

How  Richard  and  Philip  took  sides  in  the  quarrel. 

ests  and  those  of  ray  party  that  we  should  es- 
pouse? We  will  take  that;"  or,  "Which  side 
are  my  rivals  and  enemies,  or  those  of  their 
party,  going  to  take  ?  We  will  take  the  other." 
It  was  by  such  considerations  as  these  that 
the  different  princes,  and  nobles,  and  orders  of 
knights  in  the  army  decided  how  they  would 
range  themselves  on  this  great  question.  As 
has  already  been  explained,  Richard  took  up 
the  cause  of  Guy,  who  claimed  through  the  de- 
ceased Sibylla.  He  had  been  induced  to  do  so, 
not  by  any  convictions  which  he  had  formed  in 
respect  to  the  merits  of  the  case,  but  because 
Guy  had  come  to  him  while  he  was  in  Cyprus, 
and  had  made  such  proposals  there  in  respect  to 
a  conjunction  with  him  that  Richard  deemed  it 
for  his  interest  to  accept  them.  In  a  similar 
way,  Conrad  had  waited  upon  Philip  as  soon  as 
he  arrived  before  Acre,  and  had  induced  him  to 
espouse  his.  Conrad's,  side.  If  there  were  two 
orders  of  knights  in  the  army,  or  two  bodies  of 
soldiery,  that  were  at  ill-will  with  each  other 
through  rivalry,  or  jealousy,  or  former  quarrels, 
they  would  always  separate  on  this  question  of 
the  King  of  Jerusalem;  and  just  as  certainly  as 
one  of  them  showed  a  disposition  to  take  the 
side  of  Guy,  the  other  would  immediately  go 


1191.]        THE  OLD  MAN,  ETC.  271 

The  reason  of  the  importance  of  the  quarrel. 

over  to  that  of  Conrad,  and  then  these  old  and 
half- smothered  contentions  would  break  out 
anew. 

Thus  this  difficulty  was  not  only  a  serious 
quarrel  itself,  but  it  was  the  means  of  reviving 
and  giving  new  force  and  intensity  to  a  vast 
number  of  other  quarrels. 

It  may  seem  strange  that  a  question  like  this, 
which  related,  as  it  would  appear,  to  only  an 
empty  title,  should  have  been  deemed  so  im- 
portant ;  but,  in  reality,  there  was  something 
more  than  the  mere  title  at  issue.  Although, 
for  the  time  being,  the  Christians  were  excluded 
from  Jerusalem,  they  were  alt  continually  hop- 
ing to  be  very  soon  restored  to  the  possession 
of  it,  and  then  the  king  of  the  city  would  be- 
come a  very  important  personage,  not  only  in 
his  own  estimation  and  in  that  of  the  army  of 
Crusaders,  but  in  that  of  all  Christendom.  No 
one  knew  but  that  in  a  few  months  Jerusalem 
might  come  into  their  hands,  either  by  being 
retaken  through  force  of  arms,  or  by  being  ceded 
in  some  way  through  Richard's  negotiations 
with  Saladin;  and,  of  course,  the  greater  the 
probability  was  that  this  event  would  happen, 
the  more  important  the  issue  of  the  quarrel  be- 
came, and  the  more  angry  with  each  other,  and 


272  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1191. 

The  French  maintain  Conrad's  cause.         Richard's  bargain  with  Guy. 

excited,  were  the  parties  to  it.  Thus  Richard 
found  that  all  his  plans  for  getting  possession 
of  Jerusalem  were  grievously  impeded  by  these 
dissensions ;  for  the  nearer  he  came,  at  any 
time,  to  the  realization  of  his  hopes,  the  more 
completely  were  his  efforts  to  secure  the  end 
paralyzed  by  the  increased  violence  and  bitter- 
ness of  the  quarrel  that  reigned  among  his  fol- 
lowers. 

The  principal  supporters  of  the  cause  of  Con- 
rad were  the  French,  and  they  formed  so  nu- 
merous and  powerful  a  portion  of  the  army, 
and  they  had,  withal,  so  great  an  influence  over 
other  bodies  of  troops  from  different  parts  of 
Europe,  that  Richard  could  not  successfully  re- 
sist them  and  maintain  Guy's  claims,  and  he 
finally  concluded  to  give  up,  or  to  pretend  to 
give  up,  the  contest. 

So  he  made  an  arrangement  with  Guy  to  re- 
linquish his  claims  on  condition  of  his  receiving 
the  kingdom  of  Cyprus  instead,  the  unhappy 
Isaac,  the  true  king  of  that  island,  shut  up  in 
the  Syrian  dungeon  to  which  Richard  had  con- 
signed him,  being  in  no  condition  to  resist  this 
disposition  of  his  dominions.  Richard  then 
agreed  that  Conrad  should  be  acknowledged  as 
King  of  Jerusalem,  and,  to  seal  and  settle  the 


1191.]       THE  OLD  MAN,  ETC.  273 

Kichard's  reasons  for  acceding  to  Conrad's  cause. 

question,  it  was  determined  that  he  should  be 
crowned  forthwith. 

It  was  supposed  at  the  time  that  one  reason 
which  induced  Richard  to  give  up  Guy  and 
adopt  Conrad  as  the  future  sovereign  of  the 
Holy  City  was,  that  Conrad  was  a  far  more  able 
warrior,  and  a  more  influential  and  powerful 
man  than  Guy,  and  altogether  a  more  suitable 
person  to  be  left  in  command  of  the  army  in 
case  of  Richard's  return  to  England,  provided, 
in  the  mean  time,  Jerusalem  should  be  taken ; 
and,  moreover,  he  was  much  more  likely  to  suc- 
ceed as  a  leader  of  the  troops  in  a  march  against 
the  city  in  case  Richard  were  to  leave  before 
the  conquest  should  be  effected.  It  turned  out, 
however,  in  the  end,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  se- 
quel, that  the  views  with  which  Richard  adopt- 
ed this  plan  were  of  a  very  different  character. 

Conrad  was  already  the  King  of  Tyre.  The 
position  which  he  thus  held  was,  in  fact,  one  of 
the  elements  of  his  power  and  influence  among 
the  Crusaders.  It  was  determined  that  his  cor- 
onation as  King  of  Jerusalem  should  take  place 
at  Tyre,  and,  accordingly,  as  soon  as  the  ar- 
rangement of  the  question  had  been  fully  and 
finally  agreed  upon,  all  parties  proceeded  to 

Tyre,  and  there  commenced  at  once  the  prepa- 
7—18 


274  KING   RICHARD   I.  [1191. 

The  coronation  of  Conrad.  His  assassination. 

rations  for  a  magnificent  coronation.  All  the 
principal  chieftains  and  dignitaries  of  the  army 
that  could  be  spared  from  the  other  posts  along 
the  coast  went  to  Tyre  to  be  present  at  the  cor- 
onation, the  whole  army,  with  the  exception 
of  a  few  malcontents,  being  filled  with  joy  and 
satisfaction  that  the  question  which  had  so  long 
distracted  their  councils  and  paralyzed  their  ef- 
forts was  now  at  length  finally  disposed  of. 

These  bright  prospects  were  all,  however, 
suddenly  blighted  and  destroyed  by  an  unex- 
pected event,  which  struck  every  one  with  con- 
sternation, and  put  all  things  back  into  a  worse 
condition  than  before.  As  Conrad  was  passing 
along  the  streets  of  Tyre  one  day,  two  men 
rushed  upon  him,  and  with  small  daggers,  which 
they  plunged  into  his  side,  slew  him.  They 
were  so  sudden  in  their  movement  that  all  was 
over  before  any  one  could  come  to  Conrad's  res- 
cue, but  the  men  who  committed  the  deed  were 
seized  and  put  to  the  torture.  They  belonged 
to  a  tribe  of  Arabs  called  Hassassins.*  This 
appellation  was  taken  from  the  Arabic  name  of 
the  dagger,  which  was  the  only  armor  that  they 
wore.  Of  course,  with  such  a  weapon  as  this, 

*  The  English  word  assassins  comes  from  the  name  of 
these  men. 


1191.J        THE   OLD   MAN,    ETC.  275 

The  [(assassins.         The  Old  Man  of  the  Mountains  and  his  follower*. 

they  could  do  nothing  effectual  in  a  regular  bat- 
tle with  their  enemies.  Nor  was  this  their 
plan.  They  never  came  out  and  met  their  en- 
emies in  battle.  They  lived  among  the  mount- 
ains in  a  place  by  themselves,  under  the  com- 
mand of  a  famous  chieftain,  whom  they  called 
the  Ancient,  and  sometimes  the  JLord  of  the 
Mountains.  The  Christians  called  him  the  Old 
Man  of  the  Mountains,  and  under  this  name 
he  and  his  band  of  followers  acquired  great 
fame. 

They  were,  in  fact,  not  much  more  than  a 
regularly-organized  band  of  robbers  and  mur- 
derers. The  men  were  extremely  wily  and 
adroit;  they  could  adopt  any  disguise,  and 
penetrate  without  suspicion  wherever  they  chose 
to  go.  They  were  trained,  too,  to  obey,  in  the 
most  unhesitating  and  implicit  manner,  any  or- 
ders whatever  that  the  chieftain  gave  them. 
Sometimes  they  were  sent  out  to  rob ;  some- 
times to  murder  an  individual  enemy,  who  had, 
in  some  way  or  other,  excited  the  anger  of  the 
chief.  Thus,  if  any  leader  of  an  armed  force 
attempted  to  attack  them,  or  if  any  officer  of 
government  adopted  any  measures  to  bring 
them  to  justice,  they  would  not  openly  resist, 
but  would  fly  to  their  dens  and  fastnesses,  and 


276  KING  RICHARD   I.          [1191. 

The  reckless  spirit  of  the  Hassassins.  Seizure  of  the  murderers. 

conceal  themselves  there,  and  then  soon  after- 
ward the  chieftain  would  send  out  his  emissa- 
ries, dressed  in  a  suitable  disguise,  and  with 
their  little  hassassins  under  their  robes,  to  watch 
an  opportunity  and  kill  the  offender.  It  is  true 
they  were  usually,  in  such  cases,  at  once  seized, 
and  were  often  put  to  death  with  horrible  tor- 
tures; but  so  great  was  their  enthusiasm  in  the 
cause  of  their  chief,  and  so  high  the  exaltation 
of  spirit  to  which  the  point  of  honor  carried 
them,  that  they  feared  nothing,  and  were  never 
known  to  shrink  from  the  discharge  of  what  they 
deemed  their  duty. 

The  stabs  which  the  two  Hassassins  gave  to 
Conrad  were  so  effectual  that  he  fell  dead  upon 
the  spot.  The  people  that  were  near  rushed  to 
his  assistance,  and  while  some  gathered  round 
the  bleeding  body,  and  endeavored  to  stanch  the 
wounds,  others  seized  the  murderers  and  bore 
them  off  to  the  castle.  They  would  have  pulled 
them  to  pieces  by  the  way  if  they  had  not  de- 
sired to  reserve  them  for  the  torture. 

The  torture  is,  of  course,  in  every  respect,  a 
wretched  way  of  eliciting  evidence.  So  far  as 
it  is  efficacious  at  all  in  eliciting  declarations,  it 
tends  to  lead  the  sufferer,  in  thinking  what  he 
shall  say,  to  consider,  not  what  is  the  truth, 


1191.]       THE   OLD  MAN,   ETC.  277 

The  torture  as  a  means  of  eliciting  evidence.          Conflicting  accounts. 

but  what  is  most  likely  to  satisfy  his  torment- 
ors and  make  them  release  him.  Accordingly, 
men  under  torture  say  any  thing  which  they 
suppose  their  questioners  wish  to  hear.  At  one 
moment  it  is  one  thing,  and  the  next  it  is  anoth- 
er, and  the  men  who  conduct  the  examination 
can  usually  report  from  it  any  result  they  please. 
A  story  gained  great  credit  in  the  army,  and 
especially  among  the  French  portion  of  it,  im- 
mediately after  the  examination  of  these  men, 
that  they  said  that  they  had  been  hired  by 
Richard  himself  to  kill  Conrad,  and  this  story 
produced  every  where  the  greatest  excitement 
and  indignation.  On  the  other  hand,  the  friends 
of  Richard  declared  that  the  Hassassins  had 
stated  that  they  were  sent  by  their  chieftain, 
the  Old  Man  of  the  Mountain,  and  that  the 
cause  was  a  quarrel  that  had  long  been  stand- 
ing between  Conrad  and  him.  It  is  true  that 
there  had  been  such  a  quarrel,  and,  consequent- 
ly, that  the  Old  Man  would  be,  doubtless,  very 
willing  that  Conrad  should  be  killed.  Indeed, 
it  is  probable  that,  if  Richard  was  really  the 
original  instigator  of  the  murder,  he  would  have 
made  the  arrangement  for  it  with  the  Old  Man, 
and  not  directly  with  the  subordinates.  It  was, 
in  fact,  a  part  of  the  regular  and  settled  busi- 


278  KING  RICHARD   I.          [1191. 

Uncertainty  respecting  the  motive  of  Con:  ad's  murder. 

ness  of  this  tribe  to  commit  murders  for  pay. 
The  chieftain  might  have  the  more  readily  un- 
dertaken this  case  from  having  already  a  quar- 
rel of  his  own  with  Conrad  on  hand.  It  was 
never  fully  ascertained  what  the  true  state  of 
the  case  was.  The  Arab  historians  maintain 
that  it  was  Richard's  work.  The  English  writ- 
ers, on  the  contrary,  throw  the  blame  on  the  Old 
Man.  The  English  writers  maintain,  moreover, 
that  the  deed  was  one  which  such  a  man  as 
Richard  was  very  little  likely  to  perform.  He 
was,  it  is  true,  they  say,  a  very  rude  and  vio- 
lent man — daring,  reckless,  and  often  unjust, 
and  even  cruel — but  he  was  not  treacherous. 
What  he  did,  he  did  in  the  open  day ;  and  he 
was  wholly  incapable  of  such  a  deed  as  pre- 
tending deceitfully  that  he  would  accede  to 
Conrad's  claims  with  a  view  of  throwing  him 
off  his  guard,  and  then  putting  him  to  death  by 
means  of  hired  murderers. 

This  reasoning  will  seem  satisfactory  to  ns 
or  otherwise,  according  to  the  views  we  like  to 
entertain  in  respect  to  the  genuineness  of  the 
sense  of  generosity  and  honor  which  is  so  much 
boasted  of  as  a  characteristic  of  the  spirit  of 
chivalry.  Some  persons  place  great  reliance 
upon  it,  and  think  that  so  gallant  and  courageous 


1191.]       THE   OLD  MAN,  ETC.  279 

False  und  spurious  honor.  General  opinion  of  Richard's  conduct 

a  knight  as  Richard  must  have  been  incapable 
of  any  such  deed  as  a  secret  assassination. 
Others  place  very  little  reliance  upon  it.  They 
think  that  the  generosity  and  nobleness  of 
mind  to  which  this  class  of  men  make  such 
great  pretension  is  chiefly  a  matter  of  outside 
show  and  parade,  and  that,  when  it  serves  their 
purpose,  they  are  generally  ready  to  resort  to 
any  covert  and  dishonest  means  which  will  help 
them  to  accomplish  their  ends,  however  truly 
dishonorable  such  means  may  be,  provided  they 
can  conceal  their  agency  in  them.  For  my 
part,  I  am  strongly  inclined  to  the  latter  opin- 
ion, and  to  believe  that  there  is  nothing  in  the 
human  heart  that  we  can  really  rely  upon  in  re- 
spect to  human  conduct  and  character  but  sound 
and  consistent  moral  principle. 

At  any  rate,  it  is  unfortunate  for  Richard's 
cause  that  among  those  who  were  around  him 
at  the  time,  and  who  knew  his  character  best, 
the  prevailing  opinion  was  against  him.  It  was 
generally  believed  in  the  army  that  he  was  re- 
ally the  secret  author  of  Conrad's  death.  The 
event  produced  a  prodigious  excitement  through- 
out the  camp.  When  the  news  reached  Eu- 
rope, it  awakened  a  very  general  indignation 
there,  especially  among  those  who  were  inclined 


280  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1191. 

Suspicions  of  Philip.  The  events  consequent  on  Conrad's  death. 

to  be  hostile  to  Richard.  Philip,  the  King  of 
France,  professed  to  be  alarmed  for  his  own 
safety.  "  He  has  employed  murderers  to  kill 
Conrad,  my  friend  and  ally,"  said  he,  "  and  the 
next  thing  will  be  that  he  will  send  some  of 
the  Old  Man  of  the  Mpuntain's  emissaries  to 
thrust  their  daggers  into  me." 

So  he  organized  an  extra  guard  to  watch  at 
the  gates  of  his  palace,  and  to  attend  him  when- 
ever he  went  out,  and  gave  them  special  instruc- 
tions to  watch  against  the  approach  of  any  sus- 
picious strangers.  The  Emperor  of  Germany 
too,  and  the  Archduke  of  Austria,  whom  Rich- 
ard had  before  made  his  enemies,  were  filled 
with  rage  and  resentment  against  him,  the  ef- 
fects of  which  he  subsequently  felt  very  se- 
verely. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  excitement  in  the  camp 
immediately  on  the  death  of  Conrad  became 
very  strong,  and  it  led  to  serious  disturbances. 
The  French  troops  rose  in  arms  and  attempted 
to  seize  Tyre.  Isabella,  Conrad's  wife,  in  whose 
name  Conrad  had  held  the  title  to  the  crown  of 
Jerusalem,  fled  to  the  citadel,  and  fortified  her- 
self there  with  such  troops  as  adhered  to  her. 
The  camp  was  in  confusion,  and  there  was  im- 
minent danger  that  the  two  parties  into  which 


1191.]       THE   OLD  MAN,  ETC.  281 

Appearance  of  Count  Henry.  He  becomes  king  of  Jerusalem. 

the  army  was  divided  would  come  to  open  war. 
At  this  juncture,  a  certain  nephew  of  Richard's, 
Count  Henry  of  Champagne,  made  his  appear- 
ance. He  persuaded  the  people  of  Tyre  to  put 
him  in  command  of  the  town  ;  and  supported 
as  he  was  by  Richard's  influence,  and  by  the 
acquiescence  of  Isabella,  he  succeeded  in  restor- 
ing something  like  order.  Immediately  after- 
ward he  proposed  to  Isabella  that  she  should 
marry  him.  She  accepted  his  proposal,  and  so 
he  became  King  of  Jerusalem  in  her  name. 

The  French  party,  and  those  who  had  taken 
the  side  of  Conrad  in  the  former  quarrel,  were 
greatly  exasperated,  but  as  the  case  now  stood 
they  were  helpless.  They  had  always  main- 
tained that  Isabella  was  the  true  sovereign,  and 
it  was  through  her  right  to  the  succession,  after 
Sibylla's  death,  that  they  had  claimed  the  crown 
for  Conrad ;  and  now,  since  Conrad  was  dead, 
and  Isabella  had  married  Count  Henry,  they 
could  not,  with  any  consistency,  deny  that  the 
new  husband  was  fully  entitled  to  succeed  the 
old.  They  might  resent  the  murder  of  Conrad 
as  much  as  they  pleased,  but  it  was  evident 
that  nothing  would  bring  him  back  to  life,  and 
nothing  could  prevent  Count  Henry  being  now 
universally  regarded  as  the  King  of  Jerusalem. 


282  KING   RICHARD   I.  [1191. 

The  question  at  rest.         Diasati -faction.         The  king's  proclamation. 

So,  after  venting  for  a  time  a  great  many  loud 
but  fruitless  complaints,  the  aggrieved  parties 
allowed  their  resentment  to  subside,  and  all  ac- 
quiesced in  acknowledging  Henry  as  King  of 
Jerusalem. 

Besides  these  difficulties,  a  great  deal  of  un- 
easiness and  discontent  arose  from  rumors  that 
Richard  was  intending  to  abandon  Palestine, 
and  return  to  Normandy  and  England,  thus 
leaving  the  army  without  any  responsible  head. 
The  tro'ops  knew  very  well  that  whatever  sem- 
blance of  authority  and  subordination  then  ex- 
isted was  due  to  the  presence  of  Richard,  whose 
high  rank  and  personal  qualities  as  a  warrior 
gave  him  great  power  over  his  followers,  not- 
withstanding their  many  causes  of  complaint 
against  him.  They  knew,  too,  that  his  depart- 
ure would  be  the  signal  of  universal  disorder, 
and  would  lead  to  the  total  dissolution  of  the 
army.  The  complaints  and  the  clamor  which 
arose  from  this  cause  became  so  great  in  all  the 
different  towns  and  fortresses  along  the  coast, 
that,  to  appease  them,  Richard  issued  a  procla- 
mation stating  that  he  had  no  intention  of  leav- 
ing the  army,  but  that  it  was  his  fixed  purpose 
to  remain  in  Palestine  at  least  another  year. 


1192.]    THE   BATTLE   OF  JAFFA.        283 

The  battle  of  Jaffa.  Richard  gives  the  army  employment 


CHAPTEE  XVIII. 
THE  BATTLE   OF  JAFFA. 

WHEN,  at  last,  the  state  of  Richard's  af- 
fairs had  been  reduced,  by  the  causes 
mentioned  in  the  last  chapter,  to  a  very  low  ebb, 
he  suddenly  succeeded  in  greatly  improving 
them  by  a  battle.  This  battle  is  known  in  his- 
tory as  the  battle  of  Jaffa.  It  was  fought  in 
the  early  part  of  the  summer  of  1192. 

As  soon  as  he  had  issued  his  proclamation 
declaring  to  his  soldiers  that  he  would  positive- 
ly remain  in  Palestine  for  a  year,  he  began  to 
make  preparations  for  another  campaign.  The 
best  way,  he  thought,  to  prevent  the  army  from 
wasting  away  its  energies  in  internal  conflicts 
between  the  different  divisions  of  it  was  to  give 
those  energies  employment  against  the  common 
enemy ;  so  he  put  every  thing  in  motion  for  a 
new  march  into  the  interior.  He  left  garrisons 
in  the  cities  of  the  coast,  sufficient,  as  he  judged, 
to  protect  them  from  any  force  which  the  Sara- 
cens were  likely  to  send  against  them  in  his 
absence,  and  forming  the  remainder  in  order  of 


284  KING   EICHARD  I.          [1192. 

Uncomfortable  news  from  England.  Richard's  resolution. 

march,  he  set  out  from  his  head-quarters  at 
Jaffa,  and  began  to  advance  once  more  toward 
Jerusalem. 

Of  course,  this  movement  revived,  in  some 
degree,  the  spirit  of  his  army,  and  awakened  in 
them  new  hopes.  Still,  Richard  himself  was 
extremely  uneasy,  and  his  mind  was  filled  with 
solicitude  and  anxiety.  Messengers  were  con- 
tinually coming  from  Europe  with  intelligence 
which  was  growing  more  and  more  alarming  at 
every  arrival.  His  brother  John,  they  said,  in 
England,  was  forming  schemes  to  take  posses- 
sion of  the  kingdom  in  his  own  name.  In 
France,  Philip  was  invading  his  Norman  prov- 
inces, and  was  evidently  preparing  for  still 
greater  aggression.  He  must  return  soon,  his 
mother  wrote  him,  or  he  would  lose  all.  Of 
course,  he  was  in  a  great  rage  at  what  he  called 
the  treachery  of  Philip  and  John,  and  burned  to 
get  back  and  make  them  feel  his  vengeance. 
But  he  was  so  tied  up  with  the  embarrassments 
and  difficulties  that  he  was  surrounded  with  in 
the  Holy  Land,  that  he  thought  it  absolutely 
necessary  to  make  a  desperate  effort  to  strike 
at  least  one  decisive  blow  before  he  could  pos- 
sibly leave  his  army,  and  it  was  in  this  des- 
perate state  of  mind  that  he  set  out  upon  his 
march.  It  was  near  the  end  of  Mav. 


1192.J   THE  BATTLE  OF  JAFFA.        285 

Account  of  the  country  through  which  the  army  marched. 

The  army  advanced  for  several  days.  They 
met  with  not  much  direct  opposition  from  the 
Saracens,  for  Saladin  had  withdrawn  to  Jerusa- 
lem, and  was  employed  in  strengthening  the 
fortifications  there,  and  making  everything  ready 
for  Richard's  approach.  But  the  difficulties 
which  they  encountered  from  other  causes,  and 
the  sufferings  of  the  army  in  consequence  of 
them,  were  terrible.  The  country  was  dry  and 
barren,  and  the  weather  hot  and  unhealthy. 
The  soldiers  fell  sick  in  great  numbers,  and 
those  that  were  well  suffered  extremely  from 
thirst  and  other  privations  incident  to  a  march 
of  many  days  through  such  a  country  in  such  a 
season.  There  were  no  trees  or  shelter  of  any 
kind  to  protect  them  from  the  scorching  rays 
of  the  sun,  and  scarcely  any  water  to  be  found 
to  quench  their  thirst.  The  streams  were  very 
few,  and  all  the  wells  that  could  be  found  were 
soon  drunk  dry.  Then  there  was  great  diffi- 
culty in  respect  to  provisions.  A  sufficient 
supply  for  so  many  thousands  could  not  b« 
brought  up  from  the  coast,  and  all  that  the  coun^ 
try  itself  had  produced — which  was,  in  fact,  very 
little — was  carried  away  by  the  Saracens  aa 
Richard  advanced.  Thus  the  army  found  it- 
self environed  with  great  difficulties,  and  before 


286  KING  RICHAED  I.          [1192. 

The  approach  to  Jerusalem.  Hebron.  The  prize  in  sight 

many  days  it  was  reduced  to  a  condition  of 
actual  distress. 

The  expedition  succeeded,  however,  in  ad- 
vancing to  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Jerusalem. 
Early  in  June  they  encamped  at  Hebron,  which 
is  about  six  miles  from  Jerusalem,  toward  the 
south.  Here  they  halted ;  and  Richard  re- 
mained here  some  days,  weighed  down  with  per- 
plexity and  distress,  and  extremely  harassed  in 
mind,  being  wholly  unable  to  decide  what  was 
best  to  be  done. 

From  a  hill  in  the  neighborhood  of  Hebron 
Jerusalem  was  in  sight.  There  lay  the  prize 
which  he  had  so  long  been  striving  to  obtain, 
all  before  him,  and  yet  he  was  utterly  power- 
less to  take  it.  For  this  he  had  been  manoeu- 
vring and  planning  for  years.  For  this  he  had 
exhausted  all  the  resources  of  his  empire,  and 
had  put  to  imminent  hazard  all  the  rights  and 
interests  of  the  crown.  For  this  he  had  left  his 
native  land,  and  had  brought  on,  by  a  voyage 
of  three  thousand  miles,  all  the  fleets  and  ar- 
mies of  his  kingdom  ;  and  now,  with  the  prize 
before  him,  and  all  Europe  looking  on  to  see 
him  grasp  it,  his  hand  had  become  powerless, 
and  he  must  turn  back,  and  go  away  as  he 
came. 


1192.]    THE  BATTLE   OF  JAFFA.        287 

SaJadin  strongly  established  in  Jerusalem.       Richard's  self-reproaches. 

Richard  saw  at  once  that  it  must  be  so ;  for 
while,  on  the  one  hand,  his  army  was  well-nigh 
exhausted,  and  was  reduced  to  a  state  of  such 
privation  and  distress  as  to  make  it  nearly  help- 
less, Saladin  was  established  in  Jerusalem  al- 
most impregnably.  While  the  divisions  of 
Richard's  army  had  been  quarreling  with  each 
other  on  the  sea-coast,  he  had  been  strengthen- 
ing the  walls  and  other  defenses  of  the  city,  un- 
til they  were  now  more  formidable  than  ever. 
Richard  received  information,  too,  that  all  the 
wells  and  cisterns  of  water  around  the  city  had 
been  destroyed  by  the  Saracens,  so  that,  if  they 
were  to  advance  to  the  walls  and  commence  a 
siege,  they  would  soon  be  obliged  to  raise  it,  or 
perish  there  with  thirst.  So  great  was  Rich- 
ard's distress  of  mind  under  these  circumstances, 
that  it  is  said,  when  he  was  conducted  to  the 
hill  from  which  Jerusalem  was  to  be  seen,  he 
could  not  bear  to  look  at  it.  He  held  "his  shield 
up  before  his  eyes  to  shut  out  the  sight  of  it, 
and  said  that  he  was  not  worthy  to  look  upon 
the  city,  since  he  had  shown  himself  unable  to 
redeem  it. 

There  was  a  council  of  war  held  to  consider 
what  it  was  best  to  do.  It  was  a  council  of 
perplexity  and  despair.  Nobody  could  tell  what 


288  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1192. 

A  new  expedient.  The  proposed  march  upon  Cairo. 

it  was  best  to  do.  To  go  back  was  disgrace. 
To  go  forward  was  destruction  ;  and  it  was  im- 
possible for  them  to  remain  where  they  were. 

In  his  desperation  Richard  conceived  of  a  new 
plan,  that  of  marching  southward  and  seizing 
Cairo.  The  Saracens  derived  almost  all  the 
stores  of  provisions  for  the  use  of  their  armies 
from  Cairo,  and  Hebron  was  on  the  road  to  it. 
The  way  was  open  for  Richard's  army  to  march 
in  that  direction,  and,  by  carrying  this  plan  into 
execution,  they  would,  at  least,  get  something 
to  eat.  Besides,  it  would  be  a  mode  of  with- 
drawing from  Jerusalem  that  would  not  be  quite 
a  retreat.  Still,  these  reasons  were  wholly  in- 
sufficient to  justify  such  a  measure,  and  it  is 
not  probable  that  Richard  seriously  entertained 
the  plan.  It  is  much  more  likely  that  he  pro- 
posed the  idea  of  a  march  upon  Cairo  as  a 
means  of  amusing  the  minds  of  his  knights  and 
soldiers,  and  diminishing  the  extreme  disap- 
pointment and  vexation  which  they  must  have 
felt  in  relinquishing  the  plan  of  an  attack  upon 
Jerusalem,  and  that  he  intended,  after  proceed- 
ing a  short  distance  on  the  way  toward  Egypt, 
to  find  some  pretext  for  turning  down  toward 
the  sea-shore,  and  re-establishing  himself  in  his 
cities  on  the  coast. 


1192.]    THE   BATTLE   OF   JAFFA.         289 

The  hopeless  condition  of  the  army.  Saladin  at  Jaffa. 

At  any  rate,  whether  it  was  the  original  plan 
or  not,  such  was  the  result.  As  soon  as  the 
encampment  was  broken  up,  and  the  army  com- 
menced its  march,  and  the  troops  learned  that 
the  hope  of  recovering  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and 
all  the  other  lofty  aspirations  and  desires  which 
had  led  them  so  far,  and  through  so  many  hard- 
ships and  dangers,  were  now  to  be  abandoned, 
they  were  first  enraged,  and  then  they  sank  into 
a  condition  of  utter  recklessness  and  despair. 
All  discipline  was  at  an  end.  No  one  seemed 
now  to  care  what  became  of  the  expedition  or 
of  themselves.  The  French  soldiers,  under  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy,  revolted  openly,  and  de- 
clared they  would  go  no  farther.  The  troops 
from  Germany  joined  them.  So  Richard  gave 
up  the  plan,  or  seemed  to  give  it  up,  and  gave 
orders  to  march  to  Acre  ;  and  there,  at  last,  the 
army  arrived  in  a  state  of  almost  utter  dissolu- 
tion. 

In  a  short  time  the  news  came  to  them  that 
Saladin  had  followed  them  down,  and  had  seized 
upon  Jaffa.  He  had  taken  the  town,  and  shut 
up  the  garrison  in  the  citadel,  whither  they  had 
fled  for  safety;  and  tidings  came  that,  unless 
Richard  very  soon  came  to  the  rescue,  the  cita- 
del would  be  compelled  to  surrender. 
7—19 


290  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1192. 

Richard' 8  measures  to  succor  Jaffa.  His  fleet  arrives  there. 

Richard  immediately  ordered  that  all  the 
troops  that  were  in  a  condition  to  march  should 
set  out  immediately,  to  proceed  down  the  coast 
from  Acre  to  Jaffa.  He  himself,  he  said,  would 
hasten  on  by  sea,  for  the  wind  was  fair,  and  a 
part  of  his  force,  all  that  he  had  ships  enough 
in  readiness  to  convey,  could  go  much  quicker 
by  water  than  by  land,  besides  the  advantage 
of  being  fresh  on  their  arrival  for  an  attack  on 
the  enemy.  So  he  assembled  as  many  ships  as 
could  be  got  ready,  and  embarked  a  select  body 
of  troops  on  board  of  them.  There  were  seven 
of  the  ships.  He  took  the  command  of  one  of 
them  himself.  The  Duke  of  Burgundy,  with  the 
French  troops  under  his  command,  refused  to  go. 

The  little  fleet  set  sail  immediately  and  ran 
down  the  coast  very  rapidly.  When  they  came 
to  Jaffa  they  found  that  the  town  was  really  in 
possession  of  the  Saracens,  and  that  large  bod- 
ies of  the  enemy  were  assembled  on  the  shore 
to  prevent  the  landing  of  Richard's  forces.  This 
array  appeared  so  formidable  that  all  the  knights 
and  officers  on  board  the  ships  urged  Richard 
not  to  attempt  to  attack  them,  but  to  wait  un- 
til the  body  of  the  army  should  arrive  by  land. 

But  Richard  was  desperate  and  reckless. 
He  declared  that  he  would  land ;  and  he  utter- 


1192.]    THE  BATTLE   OF  JAFFA.        291 

Landing.  The  onset  upon  the  Saracens.  Jaffa  retaken. 

ed  an  awful  imprecation  against  those  who 
should  hesitate  to  follow  him.  He  brought  the 
boats  up  as  near  the  shore  as  possible,  and  then, 
with  his  battle-axe  in  his  right  hand,  and  his 
shield  hung  about  his  neck,  so  as  to  have  his 
left  hand  at  liberty,  he  leaped  into  the  water, 
calling  upon  the  rest  to  come  on.  They  all  fol- 
lowed his  example,  and,  as  soon  as  they  gained 
the  shore,  they  made  a  dreadful  onset  upon  the 
Saracens  that  were  gathered  on  the  beach. 
The  Saracens  were  driven  back.  Richard  made 
such  havoc  among  them  with  his  battle-axe, 
and  the  men  following  him  were  made  so  reso- 
lute and  reckless  by  his  example,  that  the  ranks 
of  the  enemy  were  broken  through,  and  they 
fled  in  all  directions. 

Richard  and  his  men  then  rushed  on  to  the 
gates  of  the  town,  and  almost  before  the  Sara- 
cens who  were  in  possession  of  them  could  re- 
cover from  their  surprise,  the  gates  were  seized, 
those  who  had  been  stationed  at  them  were 
slain  or  driven  away,  and  then  Richard  and  his 
troops,  rushing  through,  closed  them,  and  the 
Saracens  that  were  within  the  town  were  shut 
in.  They  were  soon  all  overpowered  and  slain, 
and  thus  the  possession  of  the  town  was  re- 
covered. 


292  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1192. 

Both  sides  awaiting  assistance.  The  Saracens  defeated. 

But  this  was  not  the  end,  as  Richard  and  his 
men  knew  full  well.  Though  they  had  pos- 
session of  the  town  itself,  they  were  surround- 
ed by  a  great  army  of  Saracens,  that  were  hor- 
ering  around  them  on  the  plain,  and  rapidly  in- 
creasing in  numbers ;  for  Saladin  had  sent  or- 
ders to  the  interior  directing  all  possible  assist- 
ance to  be  sent  to  him.  Richard  himself,  oa 
the  other  hand,  was  hourly  expecting  the  arrival 
of  the  main  body  of  his  troops  by  land. 

They  arrived  the  next  day,  and  then  came  oa 
the  great  contest.  Richard's  troops,  on  their  ar- 
rival, attacked  the  Saracens  from  without,  whil« 
he  himself,  issuing  from  the  gates,  assaulted 
them  from  the  side  next  the  town.  The  Cru- 
saders fought  with  the  utmost  desperation. 
They  knew  very  well  that  it  was  the  crisis  of 
their  fate.  To  lose  that  battle  was  to  lose  alL 
The  Saracens,  on  the  other  hand,  were  not  un- 
der any  such  urgent  pressure.  If  overpowered, 
they  could  retire  again  to  the  mountains,  and  b« 
as  secure  as  before. 

They  were  overpowered.  The  battle  was 
fought  long  and  obstinately,  but  at  length  Rich- 
ard was  victorious,  and  the  Saracens  were  driven 
off  the  ground. 

Various  accounts  are  given  by  the  different 


1192.]  THE  BATTLE   OF  JAFFA.        295 

'i'lio  story  of  paladin's  present  of  horses  to  his  »nemy. 

writers  who  have  narrated  the  history  of  this 
crusade,  of  a  present  of  a  horse  made  by  Sala- 
din  to  Richard  in  the  course  of  the  war,  and  the 
incident  has  been  often  commented  upon  as  an 
evidence  of  the  high  and  generous  sentiments 
which  animated  the  combatants  in  this  terrible 
crusade  in  their  personal  feelings  toward  each 
other.  One  of  the  stories  makes  the  case  an 
incident  of  this  battle.  The  Saracens,  flying 
from  the  field,  came  to  Saladin,  who  was  watch- 
ing the  contest,  and,  in  conversation  with  him, 
they  pointed  out  Richard,  who  was  standing 
among  his  knights  on  a  small  rising  ground. 

"Why,  he  is  on  foot!"  exclaimed  Saladin. 
Richard  was  on  foot.  His  favorite  charger, 
Favelle,  was  killed  under  him  that  morning, 
and  as  he  had  come  from  Acre  in  haste  and  by 
sea,  there  was  no  other  horse  at  hand  to  supply 
his  place. 

Saladin  immediately  said  that  that  was  not 
as  it  should  be.  "The  King  of  England,"  said 
he,  "  should  not  fight  on  foot  like  a  common 
soldier."  He  immediately  sent  over  to  Richard, 
with  a  flag  of  truce,  two  splendid  horses.  King 
Richard  accepted  the  present,  and  during  the 
remainder  of  the  day  he  fought  on  one  of  the 
horses  which  his  enemy  had  thus  sent  him. 


296  KING   RICHARD   L          [1192. 

The  romantic  story  of  the  treacherous  gift 

One  account  adds  a  romantic  embellishment 
to  this  story  by  saying  that  Saladin  sent  only 
one  horse  at  first — the  one  that  he  supposed 
most  worthy  of  being  sent  as  a  gift  from  one 
sovereign  to  another ;  but  that  Richard,  before 
mounting  him  himself,  directed  owe  of  his 
knights  to  mount  him  and  give  him  trial.  The 
knight  found  the  horse  wholly  unmanageable. 
The  animal  took  the  bits  between  his  teeth  and 
galloped  furiously  back  to  the  camp  of  Saladin, 
carrying  his  rider  with  him,  a  helpless  prisoner. 
Saladin  was  exceedingly  chagrined  at  this  re- 
gult;  he  was  afraid  Richard  might  suppose  that 
he  sent  him  an  unruly  horse  from  a  treacherous 
design  to  do  him  some  injury.  He  accordingly 
received  the  knight  who  had  been  borne  so  un- 
willingly to  his  camp  in  the  most  courteous 
manner,  and  providing  another  horse  for  him, 
he  dismissed  him  with  presents.  He  also  sent 
a  second  horse  to  Richard,  more  beautiful  than 
the  first,  and  one  which  he  caused  Richard  to 
be  assured  that  he  might  rely  upon  as  perfect- 
ly well  trained. 


1192.]  THE   TRUCE.  297 

Richard  and  Saladin  agree  upon  a  three  years'  truce. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
THE  TRUCE. 

result  of  the  battle  of  Jaffa  greatlj 
-•-  strengthened  and  improved  the  condition 
of  the  Crusaders,  and  in  the  same  proportion  it 
weakened  and  discouraged  Saladin  and  the  Sar- 
acens. But,  after  all,  instead  of  giving  to  either 
party  the  predominance,  it  only  placed  them 
more  nearly  on  a  footing  of  equality  than  before. 
It  began  to  be  pretty  plain  that  neither  of  the 
contending  parties  was  strong  enough,  or  would 
soon  be  likely  to  be  strong  enough  to  accom- 
plish its  purposes.  Richard  could  not  take  Je- 
rusalem from  Saladin,  nor  could  Saladin  drive 
Richard  out  of  the  Holy  Land. 

In  this  state  of  things,  it  was  finally  agreed 
upon  between  Richard  and  Saladin  that  a  truce 
should  be  made.  The  negotiations  for  this 
truce  were  protracted  through  several  weeks, 
and  the  summer  was  gone  before  it  was  con- 
cluded. It  was  a  truce  for  a  long  period,  the 
duration  of  it  being  more  than  three  years. 
Still,  it  was  strictly  a  truce,  not  a  peace,  since 
a  termination  was  assigned  to  it. 


298  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1192. 

Richard's  reason  for  this  course.  The  treaty.  The  coast. 

Richard  preferred  to  make  a  truce  rather  than 
a  peace  for  the  sake  of  appearances  at  home. 
He  did  not  wish  that  it  should  be  understood 
that,  in  leaving  the  Holy  Land  and  returning 
home,  he  abandoned  all  design  of  recovering  the 
Holy  Sepulchre.  He  allowed  three  years,  on 
the  supposition  that  that  would  be  time  enough 
for  him  to  return  home,  to  set  every  thing  in 
order  in  his  dominions,  to  organize  a  new  cru- 
sade on  a  larger  scale,  and  to  come  back  again. 
In  the  mean  time,  he  reserved,  by  a  stipulation 
of  the  treaty,  the  right  to  occupy,  by  such  por- 
tion of  his  army  as  he  should  leave  behind,  the 
portion  of  territory  on  the  coast  which  lie  had 
conquered,  and  which  he  then  held,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  one  of  the  cities,  which  one  he  was 
to  give  up.  The  terms  of  the  treaty,  in  detail, 
were  as  follows : 

STIPULATIONS    OF   THE   TREATY. 

1.  The  three  great  cities  of  Tyre,  Acre,  and 
Jaffa,  with  all  the  smaller  towns  and  castles  on 
the  coast  between  them,  with  the  territory  ad- 
joining, were  to  be  left  in  the  possession  of  the 
Christians,  and  Saladin  bound  himself  that  they 
should  not  be  attacked  or  molested  in  any  way 
there  during  the  continuance  of  the  truce. 


1192.]  THE   TRUCE.  299 

A?ralon  to  be  dismantled.  Pilgrims  to  Jerusalem  protected. 

2.  Ascalon,  which  lay  farther  to  the  south, 
and  was  not  necessary  for  the  uses  of  Richard's 
army,  was  to  be  given  up ;  but  Saladin  was  to 
pay,  on  receiving  it,  the  estimated  cost  which 
Richard  had  incurred  in  rebuilding  the  fortifica- 
tions.     Saladin,  however,  was  not  to  occupy  it 
himself  as  a  fortified  town.     It  was  to  be  so  far 
dismantled  as  only  to  be  used  as  a  commercial 
city. 

3.  The  Christians  bound  themselves  to  re- 
main within  their  territory  in  peace,  to  make  no 
excursions  from  it  for  warlike  purposes  into  the 
interior,  nor  in  any  manner  to  injure  or  oppress 
the  inhabitants  of  the  surrounding  country. 

4.  All  persons  who  might  desire  to  go  to  Je- 
rusalem in  a  peaceful  way  as  visitors  or  pil- 
grims, whether  they  were  knights  or  soldiers 
belonging  to  the  army,  or  actual  pilgrims  arriv- 
ing at  Acre  from  the  different  Christian  coun- 
tries of  Europe,  were  to  be  allowed  to  pass  free- 
ly to  and  fro,  and  Saladin  bound  himself  to 
protect  them  from  all  harm. 

5.  The  truce  thus  agreed  upon  was  to  con- 
tinue in  force  three  years,  three  months,  three 
weeks,  three  days,  and  three  hours ;  and  at  the 
end  of  that  time,  each  party  was  released  from 
all  obligations  arising  under  the  treaty,  and  ei- 


300  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1192. 

Events  consequent  upon  the  truce.  Visiting  the  Holy  City. 

ther  was  at  liberty  immediately  to  resume  the 
war. 

The  signing  of  the  treaty  was  the  signal  for 
general  rejoicing  in  all  divisions  of  the  army. 
One  of  the  first  fruits  of  it  was  that  the  knights 
and  soldiers  all  immediately  began  to  form  par- 
ties for  visiting  Jerusalem.  It  was  obvious  that 
all  could  not  go  at  once ;  and  Richard  told  the 
French  soldiers  who  were  under  the  Duke  of 
Burgundy  that  he  did  not  think  they  were  en- 
titled to  go  at  all.  They  had  done  nothing,  he 
said,  to  help  on  the  war,  but  every  thing  to  em- 
barrass and  impede  it,  and  now  he  thought  that 
they  did  not  deserve  to  enjoy  any  share  of  the 
fruits  of  it. 

Three  large  parties  were  formed  and  they 
proceeded,  one  after  the  other,  to  visit  the  Holy 
City.  There  was  some  difficulty  in  respect  to 
the  first  party,  and  it  required  all  Saladin's  au- 
thority to  protect  them  from  insult  or  injury  by 
the  Saracen  people.  The  animosity  and  anger 
which  they  had  been  so  long  cherishing  against 
these  invaders  of  their  country  had  not  had  time 
to  subside,  and  many  of  them  were  very  eager 
to  avenge  the  wrongs  which  they  had  suffered. 
The  friends  and  relatives  of  the  hostages  whom 


1192.]  THE   TRUCE.  301 

Saladin  restraining  the  Saracens  from  revenge. 

Richard  had  massacred  at  Acre  were  particular- 
ly excited.  They  came  in  a  body  to  Saladin's 
palace,  and,  falling  on  their  knees  before  him, 
begged  and  implored  him  to  allow  them  to  take 
their  revenge  on  the  inhuman  murderers,  now 
that  they  had  them  in  their  power ;  but  Saladin 
would  not  listen  to  them  a  moment.  He  re- 
fused their  prayer  in  the  most  absolute  and  pos- 
itive manner,  and  he  took  very  effectual  meas- 
ures for  protecting  the  party  of  Christians  dur- 
ing the  whole  duration  of  their  visit. 

The  question  being  thus  settled  that  the 
Christian  visitors  to  Jerusalem  were  to  be  pro- 
tected, the  excitement  among  the  people  grad- 
ually subsided ;  and,  indeed,  before  long,  the 
current  of  feeling  inclined  the  other  way,  so 
that,  when  the  second  party  arrived,  they  were 
received  with  great  kindness.  Perhaps  the  first 
party  had  taken  care  to  conduct  themselves  in 
such  a  manner  during  their  visit,  and  in  going 
and  returning,  as  to  conciliate  the  good-will  of 
their  enemies.  At  any  rate,  after  their  visit 
there  was  no  difficulty,  and  many  in  the  camp, 
who  had  been  too  distrustful  of  Saracenic  faith 
to  venture  with  them,  now  began  to  join  the 
other  parties  that  were  forming,  for  all  had  a 
great  curiosity  to  see  the  city  for  the  sake  of 


302  KING  EICHARD   I.          [1192. 

The  visit  of  the  bishop  to  Jerusalem. 


which  they  had  encountered  so  many  dangers 
and  toils. 

With  the  third  party  a  bishop  ventured  to 
go.  It  was  far  more  dangerous  for  a  high  dig- 
nitary of  the  Christian  Church  to  join  such  an 
expedition  than  for  a  knight  or  a  common  sol- 
dier, both  because  such  a  man  was  a  more  ob- 
noxious object  of  Mohammedan  fanaticism,  and 
thus  more  likely,  perhaps,  to  be  attacked,  and 
also  because,  in  case  of  an  attack,  being  unarm- 
ed and  defenseless,  he  would  be  unable  to  pro- 
tect himself,  and  be  less  able  even  to  act  effi- 
ciently in  making  his  escape  than  a  military 
man,  who,  as  such,  was  accustomed  to  all  sorts 
of  surprises  and  frays. 

The  bishop,  however,  experienced  no  diffi- 
culty. On  the  contrary,  he  was  received  with 
marks  of  great  distinction.  Saladin  made  spe- 
cial arrangements  to  do  him  honor.  He  invited 
him  to  his  palace,  and  there  treated  him  with 
great  respect,  and  held  a  long  conversation  with 
him.  In  the  course  of  the  conversation  Sala- 
din desired  to  know  what  was  commonly  said 
of  him  in  the  Christian  camp. 

"  What  is  the  common  opinion  in  your 
army,"  he  asked,  "  in  respect  to  Richard  and  to 
me?" 


1192.]  THE   TRUCE.  303 

Saladin's  just  opinion  of  King  Richard. 

He  wished  to  know  which  was  regarded  as 
the  greatest  hero. 

"  My  king,"  replied  the  bishop,  "  is  regarded 
the  first  of  all  men  living,  both  in  regard  to  his 
valorous  deeds  and  to  the  generosity  of  his  char- 
acter. That  I  can  not  deny.  But  your  fame 
also  is  very  exalted  among  us ;  and  it  is  the 
universal  opinion  in  our  army  that  if  you  were 
only  converted  to  Christianity,  there  would  not 
be  in  the  world  two  such  princes  as  Richard 
and  you." 

In  the  course  of  further  conversation  Saladin 
admitted  that  Richard  was  a  great  hero,  and 
said  that  he  had  a  great  admiration  for  him. 

"But  then,"  he  added,  "  he  does  wrong,  and 
acts  very  unwisely,  in  exposing  himself  so  reck- 
lessly to  personal  danger,  when  there  is  no  suf- 
ficient end  in  view  to  justify  it.  To  act  thus 
evinces  rashness  and  recklessness  rather  than 
true  courage.  For  myself,  I  prefer  the  reputa- 
tion of  wisdom  and  prudence  rather  than  that 
of  mere  blind  and  thoughtless  daring." 

The  bishop,  in  his  conversation  with  Saladin, 
represented  to  him  that  it  was  necessary  for  the 
comfort  of  the  pilgrims  who  should  from  time 
to  time  visit  Jerusalem  that  there  should  be 
some  public  establishment  to  receive  and  enter- 


304  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1192. 

The  institution  for  the  entertainment  of  pilgrims. 

tain  them,  and  he  asked  the  sultan's  permis- 
sion to  found  such  institutions.  Saladin  ac- 
ceded to  this  request,  and  measures  were  imme- 
diately adopted  by  the  bishop  to  carry  the  ar- 
rangement into  effect. 

Richard  himself  did  not  visit  Jerusalem.  The 
reason  he  assigned  for  this  was  that  he  was 
sick  at  the  time.  Perhaps  the  real  reason  was 
that  he  could  not  endure  the  humiliation  of  pay- 
ing a  visit,  by  the  mere  permission  of  an  enemy, 
to  the  city  which  he  had  so  long  set  his  heart 
upon  entering  triumphantly  as  a  conqueror. 


1192.J          DEPARTURE,  ETC.  305 

Richard's  reasons  for  returning  home. 


CHAPTER  XX. 
THE  DEPARTURE  FROM  PALESTINE. 

ONE  of  the  chief  objects  which  Richard  had 
in  view  in  concluding  the  truce  with  Sala- 
din  was  to  be  able  to  have  an  honorable  pretext 
for  leaving  the  Holy  Land  and  setting  out  on  his 
return  to  England.  He  had  received  many  let- 
ters from  his  mother  urging  him  to  come,  and 
giving  him  alarming  accounts  of  the  state  of 
things  both  in  England  and  Normandy. 

In  England,  the  reader  will  perhaps  recol- 
lect that  Richard,  when  he  set  out  on  the  Cru- 
sade, had  appointed  his  brother  John  regent,  in 
connection  with  his  mother  Eleanora,  but  that 
he  had  also,  in  order  to  raise  money,  appointed 
several  noblemen  of  high  standing  and  influence 
to  offices  of  responsibility,  which  they  were  to 
exercise,  in  a  great  measure,  independent  of 
John.  And,  not  content  with  appointing  a 
suitable  number  of  these  officers,  he  multiplied 
them  unnecessarily,  and  in  some  instances  con- 
veyed the  same  jurisdiction,  as  it  were,  to  dif- 
ferent persons,  thus  virtually  selling  the  same 
7—20 


306  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1192. 

Causes  of  internal  dissension  in  England  and  Normandy. 

office  to  two  different  men.  Of  course,  this  was 
not  done  openly  and  avowedly.  The  transac- 
tions were  more  or  less  covered  up  and  con- 
cealed under  different  disguises.  For  example, 
after  selling  the  post  of  chief  justiciary,  which 
was  an  office  of  great  power  and  emolument,  to 
one  nobleman,  and  receiving  as  much  money  for 
it  as  the  nobleman  was  willing  to  pay,  he  after- 
ward appointed  other  noblemen  as  assistant 
justiciaries,  exacting,  of  course,  a  large  sum  of 
money  from  each  of  them,  and  granting  them, 
in  consideration  of  it,  much  the  same  powers  as 
he  had  bestowed  upon  the  chief  justiciary.  Of 
course,  such  a  proceeding  as  this  could  only  re- 
sult in  continual  contentions  and  quarrels  among 
the  appointees,  to  break  out  as  soon  as  Richard 
should  be  gone.  But  the  king  cared  little  for 
that,  so  long  as  he  could  get  the  money. 

The  quarrels  did  break  out  immediately  after 
Richard  sailed.  There  were  various  parties  to 
them.  There  were  Eleanora  and  John,  each 
claiming  to  be  the  regent.  Then  there  were 
two  powerful  noblemen,  both  maintaining  that 
they  had  been  invested  with  the  supreme  power 
by  virtue  of  the  offices  which  they  held.  The 
name  of  one  of  them  was  Longchamp.  He  con- 
trived to  place  himself,  for  a  time,  quite  at  the 


1192.]  DEPARTURE,  ETC.  307 

Longchamp' s  disguise.  His  escape  from  England. 

head  of  affairs,  and  the  whole  country  was  dis- 
tracted by  the  wars  which  were  waged  between 
him  and  his  partisans  and  the  partisans  of 
John.  Longchamp  was  at  last  defeated,  and 
was  obliged  to  fly  from  the  kingdom  in  dis- 
guise. He  was  found  one  day  by  some  fisher- 
men's wives,  on  the  beach  near  Dover,  in  the 
disguise  of  an  old  woman,  with  a  roll  of  cloth 
under  his  arm,  and  a  yard-stick  in  his  hand. 
He  was  waiting  for  a  boat  which  was  to  take 
him  across  the  Channel  into  France.  He  dis- 
guised himself  in  that  way  that  he  might  not 
be  known,  and  when  seen  from  behind  the  met- 
amorphosis was  almost  complete.  The  women, 
however,  observed  something  suspicious  in  the 
appearance  of  the  figure,  and  so  contrived  to 
come  nearer  and  get  a  peep  under  the  bonnet, 
and  there  they  saw  the  black  beard  and  whis- 
kers of  a  man. 

Notwithstanding  this  discovery,  Longchamp 
succeeded  in  making  his  escape. 

As  to  Normandy,  Richard's  interests  were  in 
still  greater  danger  than  in  England.  King 
Philip  had  taken  the  most  solemn  oaths  before 
he  left  the  Holy  Land,  by  which  he  bound  him- 
self not  to  molest  any  of  Richard's  dominions, 
or  to  take  any  steps  hostile  to  him,  while  he — 


308  KING   RICHARD  I.  [1192. 

Philip's  oath  broken.  Pretext  for  invading  Normandy. 

that  is,  Richard — remained  away ;  and  that  if 
he  should  have  any  cause  of  quarrel  against 
him,  he  would  abstain  from  all  attempts  to  en- 
force his  rights  until  at  least  six  months  after 
Richard's  return.  It  was  only  on  condition  of 
this  agreement  that  Richard  would  consent  to 
remain  in  Palestine  in  command  of  the  Crusade, 
and  allow  Philip  to  return. 

But,  notwithstanding  this  solemn  agreement, 
and  all  the  oaths  by  which  it  was  confirmed, 
no  sooner  was  Philip  safe  in  France  than  he 
commenced  operations  against  Richard's  domin- 
ions. He  began  to  make  arrangements  for  an 
invasion  of  some  of  Richard's  territories  in  Nor- 
mandy, under  pretext  of  taking  possession  again 
of  Alice's  dower,  which  it  was  agreed,  by  the 
treaty  made  at  Messina,  should  be  restored  to 
him.  But  it  had  also  been  agreed  at  that  treaty 
that  the  time  for  the  restoration  of  the  dowry 
should  be  after  Richard's  return,  so  that  the 
plans  of  invasion  which  Philip  was  now  form- 
ing involved  clearly  a  very  gross  breach  of 
faith,  committed  without  any  pretense  or  justi- 
fication whatever.  This  instance,  and  multi- 
tudes of  others  like  it  to  be  found  in  the  histo- 
ries of  those  times,  show  how  little  there  was 
that  was  genuine  and  reliable  in  the  lofty  sense 


1192.]  DEPARTURE,  ETC.  309 

Proposed  marriage  of  John  and  Alice. 

of  honor  often  so  highly  lauded  as  one  of  the 
characteristics  of  chivalry. 

In  justice,  however,  to  all  concerned,  it  must 
be  stated  that  Philip's  knights  and  nobles  re- 
monstrated so  earnestly  against  this  breach  of 
faith,  that  Philip  was  compelled  to  give  up  his 
plan,  and  to  content  himself  in  his  operations 
against  Richard  with  secret  intrigues  instead 
of  open  war.  As  he  knew  that  John  was  en- 
deavoring to  supplant  Richard  in  his  kingdom, 
he  sent  to  him  and  proposed  to  join  him  in  this 
plan,  and  to  help  him  carry  it  into  execution ; 
and  he  offered  him  the  hand  of  Alice,  the  prin- 
cess whom  Richard  had  discarded,  to  seal  and 
•ecure  the  alliance.  John  was  quite  pleased 
with  this  proposal ;  and  information  of  these  in- 
trigues, more  or  less  definite,  came  to  Richard 
in  Palestine  about  the  time  of  the  battle  of  Jaf- 
fa, from  Eleanora,  who  contrived  in  some  way 
to  find  out  what  was  going  on.  The  tidings 
threw  Richard  into  a  fever  of  anxiety  to  leave 
Palestine  and  return  home. 

It  was  about  the  first  of  October  that  Rich- 
ard set  sail  from  Acre  on  his  return,  with  a 
small  squadron  containing  his  immediate  at- 
tendants. He  himself  embarked  in  a  war-ship. 
The  queens,  taking  with  them  the  captive  prin- 


310  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1192. 

Richard's  return  unannounced.  Sailing  from  Palestine. 

cess  of  Cyprus  and  the  other  members  of  their 
family,  went  as  they  came,  in  a  vessel  specially 
arranged  for  them,  and  under  the  care  of  their 
old  protector,  Stephen  of  Turnham.  The  queens 
embarked  first  in  their  vessel  and  sailed  away. 
Richard  followed  soon  afterward.  His  plan 
was  to  leave  the  coast  as  quietly  and  in  as  pri- 
vate a  manner  as  possible.  If  it  were  to  be  un- 
derstood in  France  and  England  that  he  was 
on  his  return,  he  did  not  know  what  plans  might 
be  formed  to  intercept  him.  So  he  kept  his  de- 
parture as  much  as  possible  a  secret,  and  the 
more  completely  to  carry  out  this  design,  he 
gave  up  for  the  voyage  all  his  royal  style  and 
pretensions,  and  dressed  himself  as  a  simple 
knight. 

The  vessels  slipped  away  from  the  coast,  one 
after  another,  in  the  evening,  in  a  manner  to  at- 
tract as  little  attention  as  possible.  They  made 
but  little  progress  during  the  night.  In  the 
morning  the  shore  was  still  in  view,  though  fast 
disappearing.  Richard  gazed  upon  it  as  he 
stood  on  the  deck  of  his  galley,  and  then  took 
leave  of  it  by  stretching  out  his  hands  and  ex- 
claiming, 

"  Most  holy  land,  farewell !  I  commend 
thee  to  God's  keeping  and  care.  May  He  give 


1192.]          DEPARTURE,  ETC.  311 

Richard's  apostrophe  to  the  Holy  Land. 

me  life  and  health  to  return  and  rescue  thee 
from  the  hands  of  the  infidel." 

The  effect  of  this  apostrophe  on  the  by-stand- 
ers,  and  on  those  to  whom  the  by-standers  re- 
ported it,  was  excellent,  and  it  was  probably 
for  the  sake  of  this  effect  that  Richard  uttered  it. 


312  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1192. 

The  returning  Crusaders  met  by  »  storm. 


CHAPTER  XXL 
RICHARD  MADE   CAPTIVE. 

IT  was  now  late  in  the  season,  and  the  au- 
tumnal gales  had  begun  to  blow.  It  was 
but  a  very  short  time  after  the  vessels  left  the 
port  before  so  severe  a  storm  came  on  that  the 
fleet  was  dispersed,  and  many  of  the  vessels 
were  driven  upon  the  neighboring  coasts  and 
destroyed.  The  Crusaders  that  had  been  left 
in  Acre  and  Jaffa  were  rather  pleased  at  this 
than  otherwise.  They  had  been  indignant  at 
Richard  and  the  knights  who  were  with  him  for 
having  left  them,  to  return  home,  and  they  said 
now  that  the  storm  was  a  judgment  from  Heav- 
en against  the  men  on  board  the  vessels  for 
abandoning  their  work,  and  going  away  from 
ihe  Holy  Land,  and  leaving  the  tomb  and  the 
cross  of  Christ  unredeemed.  Some  of  the  ships, 
it  is  said,  were  thrown  on  the  coasts  of  Africa, 
and  the  seamen  and  knights,  as  fast  as  they 
escaped  to  the  shore,  were  seized  and  made 
slaves. 

Richard's  ship,  and  also  the  one  in  which  the 


1192.]   KlCHAED    MADE    CAPTIVE.         313 

Richard's  sadden  change  of  course.  Hie  route  homeward. 

queens  were  embarked,  being  stronger  and  bet- 
ter manned  than  the  others,  weathered  the  gale. 
After  it  was  over,  the  queens'  vessel  steered 
for  Sicily,  where,  in  due  time,  they  arrived  in 
safety. 

Richard  did  not  intend  to  trust  himself  to  go 
to  any  place  where  he  was  known.  According- 
ly, as  soon  as  he  found  himself  fairly  separated 
from  all  the  other  vessels,  he  suddenly  changed 
his  course,  and  turned  northward  toward  the 
mouth  of  the  Adriatic  Sea.  He  landed  at  the 
island  of  Corfu.*  Here  he  dismissed  his  ship, 
and  took  three  small  galleys  instead,  to  go  up  to 
the  head  of  the  Adriatic  Sea,  and  thence  to 
make  his  way  homeward  by  land  through  the 
heart  of  Germany. 

He  probably  thought  that  this  was  the  safest 
and  best  course  that  he  could  take.  He  did 
not  dare  to  go  through  France  for  fear  of  Phil- 
ip. To  go  all  the  way  by  sea,  which  would  re- 
quire him  to  sail  out  through  the  Straits  of 
Gibraltar  into  the  Atlantic,  would  require  al- 
together too  long  and  dangerous  a  voyage  for 
so  late  a  season  of  the  year.  The  only  alterna- 
tive left  was  to  attempt  to  pass  through  Ger- 
many ;  and,  as  the  German  powers  were  hos- 
*  For  the  situation  of  this  island,  see  the  map  on  page  14. 


314  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1192. 

King  Richard  traveling  in  disguise  of  a  pilgrim. 

tile  to  him,  it  was  not  safe  for  him  to  undertake 
this  unless  he  went  in  disguise. 

So  he  sailed  in  the  three  galleys  which  he 
procured  in  Corfu  to  the  head  of  the  Adriatic 
Sea,  and  landed  at  a  place  called  Zara.  Here 
he  put  on  the  dress  of  a  pilgrim.  He  had  suf- 
fered his  hair  and  beard  to  grow  long,  and  this, 
with  the  flowing  robes  of  his  pilgrim's  dress, 
and  the  crosier  which  he  bore  in  his  hand,  com- 
pleted his  disguise. 

But,  though  he  might  make  himself  look  like 
a  pilgrim,  .he  could  not  act  like  one.  He  was 
well  provided  with  money,  and  his  mode  of 
spending  it,  though  it  might  have  been,  perhaps, 
very  sparing  for  a  king,  was  very  lavish  for  a 
pilgrim ;  and  the  people,  as  he  passed  along, 
wondered  who  the  party  of  strangers  could  be. 
Partly  to  account  for  the  comparative  ease  and 
comfort  with  which  he  traveled,  Richard  pre- 
tended that  he  was  a  merchant,  and,  though 
making  his  pilgrimage  on  foot,  was  by  no  means 
poor. 

Richard  knew  very  well  that  he  was  incur- 
ring a  great  risk  in  attempting  to  pass  through 
Germany  in  this  way,  for  the  country  was  full 
of  his  foes.  The  Emperor  of  Germany  was  his 
special  enemy,  on  account  of  his  having  sup- 


1192.]  RICHARD   MADE  CAPTIVE.       315 

Richard's  enemies  in  Germany.  Fancied  security. 

ported  Tancred's  cause  in  Sicily,  the  emperor 
himself,  as  the  husband  of  the  Lady  Constance, 
having  been  designated  by  the  former  King  of 
Sicily  as  his  successor.  Richard's  route  led, 
too,  through  the  dominions  of  the  Archduke  of 
Austria,  whom  he  had  quarreled  with  and  in- 
censed so  bitterly  in  the  Holy  Land.  Besides 
this,  there  were  various  chieftains  in  that  part 
of  the  country,  relatives  of  Conrad  of  Montfer- 
rat,  whom  every  body  believed  that  Richard  had 
caused  to  be  murdered. 

Richard  was  thus  passing  through  a  country 
full  of  enemies,  and  he  might  naturally  be  sup- 
posed to  feel  some  anxiety  about  the  result ; 
but,  instead  of  proceeding  cautiously,  and  watch- 
ing against  the  dangers  that  beset  him,  he  went 
on  quite  at  his  ease,  believing  that  his  good  for- 
tune would  carry  him  safely  through. 

He  went  on  for  some  days,  traveling  by  lone- 
ly roads  through  the  mountains,  until  at  length 
he  approached  a  large  town.  The  governor  of 
the  town  was  a  man  named  Maynard,  a  near 
relative  of  Conrad,  and  it  seems  that  in  some 
way  or  other  he  had  learned  that  Richard  was 
returning  to  England,  and  had  reason  to  sup- 
pose that  he  might  endeavor  to  pass  that  way. 
Richard  did  not  think  it  prudent  to  attempt  to 


316  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1192. 

Richard  solicits  a  passport        Maynard'g  answer.        The  alarm  girem. 

go  through  the  town  without  a  passport,  so  he 
sent  forward  a  page  whom  he  had  in  his  partj 
to  get  one.  He  gave  the  page  a  very  valuable 
ruby  ring  to  present  to  the  governor,  directing 
him  to  say  that  it  was  a  present  from  a  pilgrim 
merchant,  who,  with  a  priest  and  a  few  other  at- 
tendants, was  traveling  through  the  country,  and 
wished  for  permission  to  go  through  his  town. 

The  governor  took  the  ring,  and  after  exam- 
ining it  attentively  and  observing  its  value,  he 
said  to  the  page, 

"  This  is  not  the  present  of  a  pilgrim,  but  of 
a  prince.  Tell  your  master  that  I  know  who 
he  is.  He  is  Richard,  King  of  England.  Nev- 
ertheless, he  may  come  and  go  in  peace." 

Richard  was  very  much  alarmed  when  the 
page  brought  back  the  message.  That  very 
night  he  procured  horses  for  himself  and  one 
or  two  others,  and  drove  on  as  fast  as  he  could 
go,  leaving  the  rest  of  the  party  behind.  The 
next  day  those  that  were  left  were  all  taken 
prisoners,  and  the  news  was  noised  abroad  over 
the  country  that  King  Richard  was  passing 
through  in  disguise,  and  a  large  reward  was 
offered  by  the  government  for  his  apprehension. 
Of  course,  now  every  body  was  on  the  watch 
for  him. 


1192.]  ElCHARD    TAKEN     CAPTIVE.       317 

King  Richard's  flight  through  Germany. 

The  king,  however,  succeeded  in  avoiding  ob- 
servation and  going  on  some  distance  farther, 
until  at  length,  at  a  certain  town  where  he  stop- 
ped, he  was  seen  by  a  knight  who  had  known 
him  in  Normandy.  The  knight  at  once  recog- 
nized him,  but  would  not  betray  him.  On  the 
contrary,  he  concealed  him  for  the  night,  and 
provided  for  him  a  fresh  horse  the  next  day. 
This  horse  was  a  fleet  one,  so  that  Richard 
could  gallop  away  upon  him  and  make  his  es- 
cape, in  case  of  any  sudden  surprise.  Here 
Richard  dismissed  all  his  remaining  attendants 
except  his  page,  and  they  two  set  out  together. 

They  traveled  three  days  and  three  nights, 
pursuing  the  most  retired  roads  that  they  could 
find,  and  not  entering  any  house  during  all  that 
time.  The  only  rest  that  they  got  was  by  halt- 
ing at  lonely  places  by  the  road  side,  in  the  for- 
ests, or  among  the  mountains.  In  these  places 
Richard  would  remain  concealed,  while  the  boy 
went  to  a  village,  if  there  was  any  village  near, 
to  buy  food.  He  generally  got  very  little,  and 
sometimes  none  at  all.  The  horse  ate  what- 
ever he  could  find.  Thus,  at  the  end  of  the 
three  days,  they  were  all  nearly  starved. 

Besides  this,  they  had  lost  their  way,  and 
were  now  drawing  near  to  the  great  city  of  Vi- 


318  KING   RICHAKD  I.          [1192. 

Richard  concealed  near  Vienna.  His  messenger. 

enna,  the  most  dangerous  place  for  Richard  to 
approach  in  all  the  land.  He  was,  however, 
exhausted  with  hunger  and  fatigue,  and  from 
these  and  other  causes  he  fell  sick,  so  that  he 
could  proceed  no  farther.  So  he  went  into  a 
small  village  near  the  town,  and  sent  the  boy 
in  to  the  market  to  buy  something  to  eat,  and 
also  to  procure  some  other  comforts  which  he 
greatly  needed.  The  people  in  the  town  ob- 
served the  peculiar  dress  of  the  boy,  and  his  for- 
eign air,  and  their  attention  was  still  more  ex- 
cited by  noticing  how  plentifully  he  was  sup- 
plied with  money.  They  asked  him  who  he 
was.  He  said  he  was  the  servant  of  a  foreign 
merchant  who  was  traveling  through  the  coun- 
try, and  who  had  been  taken  sick  near  by. 

The  people  seemed  satisfied  with  this  ex- 
planation, and  so  they  let  the  boy  go. 

Richard  was  so  exhausted  and  so  sick  that 
he  could  not  travel  again  immediately,  and  so 
he  had  occasion,  in  a  day  or  two,  to.  send  the 
boy  into  town  again.  This  continued  for  some 
days,  and  the  curiosity  of  the  people  became 
more  and  more  awakened.  At  last  they  ob- 
served about  the  page  some  articles  of  dress 
such  as  were  only  worn  by  attendants  upon 
kings.  It  is  surprising  that  Richard  should 


1192.J  RICHARD   TAKEN   CAPTIVE.     319 

Tortming  the  messenger.  The  king  a  captive. 

have  been  so  thoughtless  as  to  have  allowed 
him  to  wear  them.  But  such  was  his  charac- 
ter. The  people  finally  seized  the  boy,  and  the 
authorities  ordered  him  to  be  whipped  to  make 
him  tell  who  he  was.  The  boy  bore  the  pain 
very  heroically,  but  at  length  they  threatened 
to  put  him  to  the  torture,  and,  among  other 
things,  to  cut  out  his  tongue,  if  he  did  not  tell. 
He  was  so  terrified  by  this  that  at  last  he  con- 
fessed the  truth  and  told  them  where  they  might 
find  the  king. 

A  band  of  soldiers  was  immediately  sent  to 
seize  him.  The  story  is  that  Richard,  at  the 
time  when  the  soldiers  arrived,  was  in  the  kitch- 
en turning  the  spit  to  roast  the  dinner.  After 
surrounding  the  house  to  prevent  the  possibil- 
ity of  an  escape,  the  soldiers  demanded  at  the 
door  if  King  Richard  was  there.  The  man 
answered,  "No,  not  unless  the  Templar  was  he 
who  was  turning  the  spit  in  the  kitchen."  So 
the  soldiers  went  in  to  see.  The  leader  ex- 
claimed, "Yes,  that  is  he:  take  him!"  But 
Richard  seized  his  sword,  and,  rushing  to  a  po- 
sition where  he  could  defend  himself,  declared 
to  the  soldiers  that  he  would  not  surrender  to 
any  but  their  chief.  So  the  soldiers,  deeming 
it  desirable  to  take  him  alive,  paused  until  they 


320  KING  RICHARD   I.          [1192. 

The  archduke  imprisons  Richard  in  Tiernsteign. 

could  send  for  the  archduke.  The  archduke 
had  left  the  Holy  Land  and  returned  home  some 
time  before.  Richard,  however,  did  not  prob- 
ably know  that  he  was  passing  through  his  do- 
minions. 

When  the  archduke  came,  Richard,  knowing 
that  resistance  would  be  of  no  avail,  delivered 
up  his  sword  and  became  a  prisoner. 

' '  You  are  very  fortunate, "  said  Leopold.  ' '  In 
becoming  my  prisoner,  you  ought  to  consider 
yourself  as  having  fallen  into  the  hands  of  a  de- 
liverer rather  than  an  enemy.  If  you  had  been 
taken  by  any  of  Conrad's  friends,  who  are  hunt- 
ing for  you  every  where,  you  would  have  been 
instantly  torn  to  pieces,  they  are  so  indignant 
against  you." 

When  the  archduke  had  thus  secured  Rich- 
ard, he  sent  him,  for  safe  keeping,  to  a  castle  in 
the  country  belonging  to  one  of  his  barons,  and 
gave  notice  to  the  emperor  of  what  had  oc- 
curred. The  name  of  the  castle  in  which  Rich- 
ard was  confined  was  Tiernsteign. 

As  soon  as  the  emperor  heard  that  Richard 
was  taken  he  was  overjoyed.  He  immediately 
sent  to  Leopold,  the  archduke,  and  claimed  the 
prisoner  as  his. 

"  You  can  not  rightfully  hold  him,"  said  he. 


7—21 


1193.]  RICHARD   TAKEN   CAPTIVE.    323 


The  emperor  buys  the  prisoner. 


"A  duke  can  not  presume  to  imprison  a  king; 
that  duty  belongs  to  an  emperor. " 

But  the  archduke  was  not  willing  to  give 
Richard  up.  A  negotiation  was,  however, 
opened,  and  finally  he  consented  to  sell  his 
prisoner  for  a  large  sum  of  money.  The  em- 
peror took  him  away,  and  what  he  did  witli  him 
for  a  long  time  nobody  knew. 

In  the  mean  while,  during  the  period  occu- 
pied by  the  voyage  of  Richard  up  the  Adriatic, 
by  his  long  and  slow  journey  by  land,  and  by 
the  time  of  his  imprisonment  in  Tiernsteign, 
the  winter  had  passed  away,  and  it  was  now 
the  spring  of  1193. 


324  KING   RICHARD  I.          [1193. 

Conjectures  of  Richard's  friends.  Queen  Berengaria  in  Bom*. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 
THE   RETURN  TO   ENGLAND. 

DURING  all  this  time  the  people  of  En- 
gland were  patiently  waiting  for  Richard's 
return,  and  wondering  what  had  become  of  him. 
They  knew  that  he  had  sailed  from  Palestine 
in  October,  and  various  were  the  conjectures  as 
to  his  fate.  Some  thought  that  he  had  been 
shipwrecked ;  others,  that  he  had  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  the  Moors ;  but  all  was  uncertain- 
ty, for  no  tidings  had  been  heard  of  him  since 
he  sailed  from  Acre.  Berengaria  had  arrived 
safely  at  Messina,  and  after  remaining  there  a 
little  time  she  proceeded  on  her  journey,  under 
the  care  of  Stephen,  as  far  as  Rome,  very  anx- 
ious all  the  time  about  her  husband.  Here  she 
stopped,  not  daring  to  go  any  farther.  She 
felt  safe  in  Rome,  under  the  protection  of  the 
Pope. 

The  emperor  attempted  to  keep  Richard's 
imprisonment  a  secret.  On  removing  him  front 
Tiernsteign,  he  shut  him  up  in  one  of  his  own 
castles  on  the  Danube  named  Durenstein.  Hera 


1193.]     RETURN  TO  ENGLAND.          325 

Richard  in  prison.  He  is  discovered  by  BlondeL 


the  king  was  closely  imprisoned.  He  did  not, 
however,  yield  to  any  depression  of  spirits  in 
view  of  his  hard  fate,  but  spent  his  time  in 
composing  and  singing  songs,  and  in  drinking 
and  carousing  with  the  people  of  the  castle. 
Here  he  remained  during  the  spring  and  sum- 
mer of  1193,  and  all  the  world  were  wondering 
what  had  become  of  him. 

At  length  rumors  began  gradually  to  circu- 
late in  respect  to  him  among  the  neighboring 
countries,  and  the  conduct  of  the  emperor,  in 
seizing  and  imprisoning  him,  was  very  gener- 
ally condemned.  How  the  intelligence  first 
reached  England  is  not  precisely  known.  One 
story  is,  that  a  celebrated  Troubadour,  named 
Blondel,  who  had  known  Richard  in  Palestine, 
was  traveling  through  Germany,  and  in  his 
journey  he  passed  along  the  road  in  front  of  the 
castle  where  Richard  was  confined.  As  he  went 
he  was  singing  one  of  his  songs.  Richard  knew 
the  song,  and  so,  when  the  Troubadour  had  fin- 
ished a  stanza,  he  sang  the  next  one  through 
the  bars  of  his  prison  window.  Blondel  recog- 
nized the  voice,  and  instantly  understood  that 
Richard  had  been  made  a  prisoner.  He,  how- 
ever, said  nothing,  but  went  on,  and  immediate- 
ly took  measures  to  make  known  in  England 
what  he  had  learned. 


326  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1193. 

Berengaria'g  distress  at  the  loss  of  her  husband. 

Another  account  is,  that  the  emperor  himself 
wrote  to  Philip,  King  of  France,  informing  him 
of  the  King  of  England's  imprisonment  in  one 
of  his  castles,  and  that  some  person  betrayed  a 
copy  of  this  letter  to  Richard's  friends  in  En- 
gland. 

It  is  said  that  Berengaria  received  the  first 
intimation  in  respect  to  Richard's  fate  by  see- 
ing a  belt  of  jewels  offered  for  sale  in  Rome 
which  she  knew  he  had  had  about  his  person 
when  he  left  Acre.  She  made  all  the  inquiry 
that  she  could  in  respect  to  the  belt,  but  she 
could  only  learn  that  Richard  must  be  some- 
where in  Germany.  It  was  a  relief  to  her  mind 
to  find  that  he  was  alive,  but  she  was  greatly 
distressed  to  think  that  he  was  probably  a  pris- 
oner, and  she  implored  the  Pope  to  interpose  his 
aid  and  procure  his  release.  The  Pope  did  in- 
terpose. He  immediately  excommunicated  Le- 
opold for  having  seized  Richard  and  imprison- 
ed him,  and  he  threatened  to  excommunicate 
the  emperor  himself  if  he  did  not  release  him. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  tidings  in  respect  to 
Richard's  situation  produced  a  great  excitement 
throughout  England.  John  was  glad  to  hear 
it,  and  he  hoped  most  devoutly  that  his  brother 
would  never  be  released.  He  immediately  be- 


1193.]     RETURN  TO  ENGLAND.          327 

The  people  of  England  sympathize  with  Richard. 

gan  to  take  measures,  in  concert  with  Philip,  to 
secure  the  crown  to  himself.  The  people,  on 
the  other  hand,  were  very  indignant  against  the 
Emperor  of  Germany,  and  every  one  was  eager 
to  take  some  efficient  measures  to  secure  the 
king's  release.  A  great  meeting  was  called  of 
the  barons,  the  bishops,  and  all  the  great  of- 
ficers of  the  realm,  at  Oxford,  where,  when  they 
had  assembled,  they  renewed  their  oaths  of  al- 
legiance to  their  sovereign,  and  then  appointed 
a  delegation,  consisting  of  two  abbots,  to  go  and 
visit  the  king,  and  confer  with  him  in  respect 
to  what  was  best  to  be  done.  They  chose  two 
ecclesiastics  for  their  messengers,  thinking  that 
they  would  be  more  likely  to  be  allowed  to  go 
and  come  without  molestation,  than  knights  or 
barons,  or  any  other  military  men. 

The  abbots  proceeded  to  Germany,  and  there 
the  first  interview  which  they  had  with  Rich- 
ard was  on  the  road,  as  the  emperor  was  taking 
him  to  the  capital  in  order  to  bring  him  before 
a  great  assembly  of  the  empire,  called  the  Diet, 
for  the  purpose  of  trial. 

Richard  was  overjoyed  to  see  his  friends. 
He  was,  however,  very  much  vexed  when  he 
heard  from  them  of  the  plans  which  John  and 
Philip  were  engaged  in  for  dispossessing  him 


328  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1193. 

King  Richard  arraigned  before  the  German  Diet. 

of  his  kingdom.  He  said,  however,  that  he  had 
very  little  fear  of  any  thing  that  they  could  do. 

"  My  brother  John,"  said  he,  "  has  not  cour- 
age enough  to  accomplish  any  thing.  He  nev- 
er will  get  a  kingdom  by  his  valor." 

When  he  arrived  at  the  town  where  the  Diet 
was  to  be  held,  Richard  had  an  interview  with 
the  emperor.  The  emperor  had  two  objects  in 
view  in  detaining  Richard  a  prisoner.  One 
was  to  prevent  his  having  it  in  his  power  to 
help  Tancred  in  keeping  him,  the  emperor,  out 
of  possession  of  the  kingdom  of  Sicily,  and  the 
other  was  to  obtain,  when  he  should  set  him  at 
liberty  at  last,  a  large  sum  of  money  for  a  ran- 
som. When  he  told  Richard  what  sum  of 
money  he  would  take,  Richard  refused  the  of- 
fer, saying  that  he  would  die  rather  than  De- 
grade his  crown  by  submitting  to  such  terms, 
and  impoverishing  his  kingdom  in  raising  the 
money.  • 

The  emperor  then,  in  order  to  bring  a  heav- 
ier pressure  to  bear  upon  him,  arraigned  him 
before  a  Diet  as  a  criminal.  The  following 
were  the  charges  which  he  brought  against  him : 

1.  That  he  had  formed  an  alliance  with  Tan- 
cred, the  usurper  of  Sicily,  and  thus  made  him- 
self a  partaker  in  Tancred's  crimes. 


1193.]      RETURN   TO  ENGLAND.          329 


The  six  charges  against  the  king. 


2.  That  he  had  invaded  the  dominions  of 
Isaac,  the  Christian   king  of  Cyprus,  deposed 
the  king,  laid  waste  his  dominions,  and  plun- 
dered his  treasures  ;  and,  finally,  had  sent  the 
unhappy  king  to  pine  away  and  die  in  a  Syrian 
dungeon. 

3.  That,  while  in  the  Holy  Land,  he  had  of- 
fered repeated  and  unpardonable  insults  to  the 
Archduke  of  Austria,  and,  through  him,  to  the 
whole  German  nation. 

4.  That  he  had  been  the  cause  of  the  failure 
of  the  Crusade,  in  consequence  of  the  quarrels 
which  he  had  excited  between  himself  and  the 
French  king  by  his  domineering  and  violent  be- 
havior. 

5.  That  he  had  employed  assassins  to  mur- 
der Conrad  of  Montferrat. 

6.  That,  finally,  he  had  betrayed  the  Chris- 
tian cause  by  concluding  a  base  truce  with  Sal- 
adin,  and  leaving  Jerusalem  in  his  hands. 

It  is  possible  that  the  motive  which  led  the 
emperor  to  make  these  charges  against  Richard 
was  not  any  wish  or  design  to  have  him  con- 
victed and  punished,  but  only  to  impress  him 
more  strongly  with  a  sense  of  the  danger  of  his 
situation,  with  a  view  of  bringing  him  to  con- 


330  KING   RICHARD  I.          [1193. 

Richard's  ransom  to  be  divided  between  the  emperor  and  the  archduke. 

sent  to  the  payment  of  a  ransom.  At  any  rate, 
the  trial  resulted  in  nothing  but  a  negotiation 
in  respect  to  the  amount  of  ransom-money  to 
te  paid. 

Finally,  a  sum  was  agreed  upon.  Richard 
was  sent  back  to  his  prison,  and  the  abbots  re- 
turned to  England  to  see  what  could  be  done 
in  respect  to  raising  the  money. 

The  people  of  England  undertook  the  task 
not  only  with  willingness,  but  with  alacrity. 
The  amount  required  was  nearly  a  million  of 
dollars,  which,  in  those  days,  was  a  very  large 
sum  even  for  a  kingdom  to  pay.  The  amount 
was  to  be  paid  in  silver.  Two  thirds  of  it  was 
to  go  to  the  emperor,  and  the  other  third  to  the 
archduke,  who,  when  he  sold  his  prisoner  to  the 
emperor,  had  reserved  a  right  to  a  portion  of  the 
ransom-money  whenever  it  should  be  paid. 

As  soon  as  two  thirds  of  the  whole  amount 
was  paid,  Richard  was  to  be  released  on  condi- 
tion of  his  giving  hostages  as  security  for  the 
remainder. 

It  took  a  long  time  to  raise  all  this  money, 
and  various  embarrassments  were  created  in 
the  course  of  the  transaction  by  the  emperor's 
bad  faith,  for  he  changed  his  terms  from  time 
to  time,  demanding  more  and  more  as  he  found 


1194.]     EETURN  TO   ENGLAND.          331 

Richard  finally  reaches  England.  Flight  of  John. 

that  the  interest  which  the  people  of  England 
took  in  the  case  would  bear.  At  last,  however, 
in  February,  1194,  about  two  years  after  Rich- 
ard was  first  imprisoned,  a  sufficient  sum  ar- 
rived to  make  up  the  first  payment,  and  Rich- 
ard was  set  free. 

After  meeting  with  various  adventures  on  his 
journey  home,  he  arrived  on  the  English  coast 
about  the  middle  of  March. 

The  people  of  the  country  were  filled  with 
joy  at  hearing  of  his  return,  and  they  gave  him 
a  magnificent  reception.  One  of  the  German 
barons  who  came  home  with  him  said,  when  he 
saw  the  enthusiasm  of  the  people,  that  if  the 
emperor  had  known  how  much  interested  in  his 
fate  the  people  of  England  were,  he  would  not 
have  let  him  off  with  so  small  a  ransom. 

John  was,  of  course,  in  great  terror  when  he 
heard  that  Richard  was  coming  home.  He 
abandoned  every  thing  and  fled  to  Normandy. 
Richard  issued  a  decree  that  if  he  did  not  come 
back  and  give  himself  up  within  forty  days,  hia 
estates  should  all  be  confiscated.  John  was 
thrown  into  a  state  of  great  perplexity  by  this, 
and  did  not  know  what  to  do. 

As  soon  as  Richard  had  arranged  his  affairs 
a  little  in  England,  he  determined  to  be  crowned 


332  KING  RICHARD   I.         [1194. 

The  expedition  to  Normandy.  Ill  treatment  of  Berengaria. 

again  anew,  as  if  his  two  years  of  captivity  had 
broken  the  continuity  of  his  reign.  According- 
ly, a  new  coronation  was  arranged,  and  it  was 
celebrated,  as  the  first  one  had  been,  with  the 
greatest  pomp  and  splendor. 

After  this  Richard  determined  to  proceed  to 
Normandy,  with  a  view  of  there  making  war 
upon  Philip  and  punishing  him  for  his  treach- 
ery. On  his  landing  in  Normandy,  John  came 
to  him  in  a  most  abject  and  submissive  man- 
ner, and,  throwing  himself  at  his  feet,  begged  his 
forgiveness.  Eleanora  joined  him  in  the  peti- 
tion. Richard  said  that,  out  of  regard  to  his 
mother's  wishes,  he  would  pardon  him. 

"  And  I  hope,"  said  he,  "  that  I  shall  as 
easily  forget  the  injuries  he  has  done  me  as  he 
will  forget  my  forbearance  in  pardoning  him." 

Poor  Berengaria  was  very  illy  rewarded  for 
the  devotion  which  she  had  manifested  to  her 
husband's  interests,  and  for  the  efforts  she  had 
made  to  secure  his  release.  She  had  come 
home  from  Rome  a  short  time  before  her  hus- 
band arrived,  but  he,  when  he  came,  manifested 
no  interest  in  rejoining  her.  Instead  of  that, 
he  connected  himself  with  a  number  of  wicked 
associates,  both  male  and  female,  whom  he  had 
known  before  he  went  to  the  Holy  Land,  and 


1195.]     RETURN  TO   ENGLAND.          333 

Richard's  reckless  immoralities.  A  warning.  Sudden  illness. 

lived  a  life  of  open  profligacy  with  them,  leav- 
ing Berengaria  to  pine  in  neglect,  alone  arid 
forsaken.  She  was  almost  heart-broken  to  be 
thus  abandoned,  and  several  of  the  principal  ec- 
clesiastics of  the  kingdom  remonstrated  very 
strongly  with  Richard  for  this  wicked  conduct. 
But  these  remonstrances  were  of  no  avail. 
Richard  abandoned  himself  more  and  more  to 
drunkenness  and  profligacy,  until  at  length  his 
character  became  truly  infamous. 

One  day  in  1195,  when  he  was  hunting  in 
the  forest  of  Normandy,  he  was  met  by  a  her- 
mit, who  boldly  expostulated  with  him  on  ac- 
count of  the  wickedness  of  his  life.  The  her- 
mit told  him  that,  by  the  course  he  was  pur- 
suing, he  was  grievously  offending  God,  and 
that,  unless  he  stopped  short  in  his  course  and 
repented  of  his  sins,  he  was  doomed  to  be 
brought  very  soon  to  a  miserable  end  by  a  spe- 
cial judgment  from  heaven. 

The  king  pretended  not  to  pay  much  atten- 
tion to  this  prophecy,  but  not  long  afterward  he 
was  suddenly  seized  with  a  severe  illness,  and 
then  he  became  exceedingly  alarmed.  He  sent 
for  all  the  monks  and  priests  within  ten  miles 
around  to  come  to  him,  and  began  to  confess 
his  sins  with  apparently  very  deep  compunction 


334  KING  RICHARD  I.          [1195. 

Recovery.  The  peasant's  discovery  of  hidden  treasured. 

for  them,  and  begged  them  to  pray  for  God's 
forgiveness.  He  promised  them  solemnly  that, 
if  God  would  spare  his  life,  he  would  return  to 
Berengaria,  and  thenceforth  be  a  true  and  faith- 
ful husband  to  her  as  long  as  he  lived. 

He  recovered  from  his  sickness,  and  he  so  far 
kept  the  vows  which  he  had  made  as  to  seek  a 
reconciliation  with  Berengaria,  and  to  live  with 
her  afterward,  ostensibly  at  least,  on  good  terms. 

For  three  years  after  this  Richard  was  en- 
gaged in  wars  with  Philip  chiefly  on  the  fron- 
tiers between  France  and  Normandy.  At  last, 
in  the  midst  of  this  contest,  he  suddenly  came 
to  his  death  under  circumstances  of  a  remarka- 
ble character.  He  had  heard  that  a  peasant  in 
the  territory  of  one  of  his  barons,  named  Vide- 
mar,  in  plowing  in  the  field,  had  come  upon  a 
trap-door  in  the  ground  which  covered  and  con- 
cealed the  entrance  to  a  cave,  and  that,  on  going 
down  into  the  cave,  he  had  found  a  number  of 
golden  statues,  with  vases  full  of  diamonds,  and 
other  treasures,  and  that  the  whole  had  been 
taken  out  and  carried  to  the  Castle  Chaluz,  be- 
longing to  Videmar.  Richard  immediately  pro- 
ceeded to  Videmar,  and  demanded  that  the  treas- 
ures should  be  given  up  to  him  as  the  sover- 
eign. Videmar  replied  that  the  rumor  which 


1199.]     RETURN  TO  ENGLAND.          335 

Videmar  denies  the  story.  Richard  shot  by  Bertrand's  arrow. 

had  been  spread  was  false ;  that  nothing  had 
been  found  but  a  pot  of  old  Roman  coins,  which 
Richard  was  welcome  to  have,  if  he  desired 
them.  Richard  replied  that  he  did  not  believe 
that  story  ;  and  that,  unless  Videmar  delivered 
up  the  statues  and  jewels,  he  would  storm  the 
castle.  Videmar  repeated  that  he  had  no  stat- 
ues and  jewels,  and  so  Richard  brought  up  his 
troops  and  opened  the  siege. 

During  the  siege,  a  knight  named  Bertrand 
de  Gordon,  standing  on  the  wall,  and  seeing 
Richard  on  the  ground  below  in  a  position 
where  he  thought  he  could  reach  him  with  an 
arrow,  drew  his  bow  and  took  aim.  As  he  shot 
it  he  prayed  to  God  to  speed  it  well.  The  ar- 
row struck  Richard  in  the  shoulder.  In  trying 
to  draw  it  out  they  broke  the  shaft,  thus  leav- 
ing the  barb  in  the  wound.  Richard  was  borne 
to  his  tent,  and  a  surgeon  was  sent  for  to  cut 
out  the  barb.  This  made  the  wound  greater, 
and  in  a  short  time  inflammation  set  in,  mortifi- 
cation ensued,  and  death  drew  nigh.  When  he 
found  that  all  was  over  with  him,  and  that  his 
end  had  come,  he  was  overwhelmed  with  re- 
morse, and  he  died  at  length  in  anguish  and 
despair. 

His  death  took  place  in  the  spring  of  1199. 


336  KING   RICHARD   I.          [1199. 

King  Richard's  reign.  The  character  of  the  "  lion-hearted." 

He  had  reigned  over  England  ten  years,  though 
not  one  of  these  years  had  he  spent  in  that 
kingdom. 

Berengaria  lived  afterward  for  thirty  years. 

King  Richard  the  First  is  known  in  history 
as  the  lion-hearted,  and  well  did  he  deserve  the 
name.  It  is  characteristic  of  the  lion  to  be 
fierce,  reckless,  and  cruel,  intent  only  in  pur- 
suing the  aims  which  his  own  lordly  and  im- 
petuous appetites  and  passions  demand,  with- 
out the  least  regard  to  any  rights  of  others  that 
he  may  trample  under  foot,  or  to  the  sufferings 
that  he  may  inflict  on  the  innocent  and  help- 
less. This  was  Richard's  character  precisely, 
and  he  was  proud  of  it.  His  glory  consisted 
in  his  reckless  and  brutal  ferocity.  He  pre- 
tended to  be  the  champion  and  defender  of  the 
cause  of  Christ,  but  it  is  hardly  possible  to  con- 
ceive of  a  character  more  completely  antagonis- 
tic than  his  to  the  just,  gentle,  and  forgiving 
spirit  which  the  precepts  of  Jesus  are  calculated 
to  form. 


THE    END. 


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